Please review! This is my first story for the Hannibal series, so we'll see how this goes. It will be a mix of the books and movies. It's also the first story I've written in full before posting any chapters. So while you are reading this, the actual story is completely finished and saved with 53 chapters. I'll try to post a chapter each week so it is regularly updated. I wanted to do it this way, because I get ahead of myself with other stories and didn't want to lose sight of this one. Hope you guys enjoy.

Clarice swung open the door, the knob banging against the wall without a door jam to stop it. "Alright, I've been patient enough. There is no more time to negotiate," she said as she flexed her hands on the wooden posts.

"I've done this enough times to know I can still push this out longer." The muffled voice rang out. It was smooth like silk but piercing like a scalpel. "This isn't exactly life or death. Why the dramatics every time?"

"Don't start with me." Clarice oozed venom with her words before she reached over the end of the bed frame and tugged the bedspread completely off her daughter. "You're going to be late for school. Your principal has already chewed me out for your tardiness."

Her daughter shrugged her shoulders, not making a move otherwise to get up from her bed. She hugged a pillow to her chest, keeping her eyes closed. "Well if you'd let me get a car-"

Clarice clenched her teeth. "Bella Darion Starling, if you don't get your ass moving right now, I will call your ballet coach and tell him to find a new lead for the school performance."

Bella shot upright, glaring at her mother. "You wouldn't."

Clarice smirked as she pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and held it up for her seventeen year old to see. "I negotiate with serial killers, rapists, and psychopaths every day, sweetheart. Calling your coach would be a walk in the park."

"Fine." Bella grumbled before standing from her bed and grabbing the outfit hanging on her closet door. "Are you actually going to make it to the performance next Friday? It's embarrassing having a seat reserved for you when you don't use it."

"And, I'm sorry about that. I have every intention of going. I haven't been pulled into the latest serial killer case going on, and I've made it clear I don't want to be disturbed next Friday." Clarice sighed as she began picking up dirty clothes from the small office chair sitting in front of her daughter's desk, tossing the articles into the hamper. "I would go to every performance if I could, but, unfortunately, crime stops for no one."

Bella rolled her eyes. "They could at least hold off for a couple hours so I can have a night with my mother's full attention." She froze. She didn't need to look up to know the statement was a painful jab into her mother's side. "I know you're doing your best, Mom. I don't blame you."

Clarice gently took Bella's arm into her hand, pulling them both down to sit on her bed. "Look, I know I'm not there for you as much as we both want. I wish that you had a father around, so at least someone could be there to cheer you on at every game or every performance. I know you don't blame me, but I do. If I had known I was going to get pregnant, I would've chosen differently so you could have a life where your father was involved."

"Why don't you ever talk about him?" Bella asked as Clarice played with her brown hair, the light showing tints of red she inherited. "I don't even know his name or what he looks like."

Clarice smiled sadly. "I'm afraid of what you'd think of me if I told you. For national surveillance reasons, I think it's best you don't know. I want you to have a chance at a normal life."

"Does he know about me?" Bella's question made the hairs on the back of Clarice's neck stand on end.

"I'm sure he's seen you, but he probably doesn't know you're his daughter. He might not even know I have a daughter. I haven't talked to him since the night we conceived you." Clarice admitted, the thought bringing a pang of anxiety. "I've kept an eye on him though. He pops up every now and then, alive and well."

Bella frowned. "He's not a spy or anything, is he?"

Clarice let out a chuckle and hugged her daughter against her chest. "I can honestly say no to that question." She kissed the top of Bella's head before rubbing her back. "C'mon, we're already late." She stood up to leave the room but stopped in her tracks at her daughter's final question.

"Did you love him?"

Clarice rested her hand on the white doorframe, stroking the wood briefly. "Most people wouldn't understand it, but yes. I do love your father. We have a level of understanding with each other that I haven't found with anyone else."

The brisque Virginia morning left his lungs filled with the fresh autumn air. Each gust of wind would cause tree branches to sway as they shed layers of leaves: red, orange, and yellow. They seemed to pad the park jogging path and crunched under his feet as he walked along the water. With the sun just coming up over the city skyline, it was early enough for a quiet jog without the overflow of foot traffic.

It was also early enough to catch his longest obsession before she left for work. He kept his distance, slowly making his way back to the northern park entrance where rows of townhouses sat hiding their emerging inhabitants. Each one probably smelled of coffee as the morning news lulled them into gathering themselves for work or school. Most people were predicable and slaves to society's schedule.

Not her.

He sat on a park bench far enough from the entrance to be disguised in the greenery. Like clockwork, the fifth townhouse down suddenly opened wide and a flash of auburn hair whipped as its owner turned to look back into the house.

Forget something, Clarice?

She smiled inward. There was someone else in the house. He leaned forward on the bench, shoving down the impulse to get up and move closer. Despite his curiosity, he couldn't act like just anyone else. He bore a hole through her as she stepped back and allowed room for another person to emerge and descend the stairs. The person was not a forty-something man in trousers or a blazer. He was not well groomed or holding a briefcase like most professionals. The he was not even a he.

The young thing walked out in jeans and a tight sweater that wasn't long enough to cover her entire torso. To the ordinary eye, her long hair was brown, but he saw the tint of red when the sun shined on it. A messenger bag was slung across her body, trinkets and keychains hanging from the silver zippers. She jaunted down the front steps with both hands holding a cell phone that seemed to capture her attention. It was slipped into her back pocket though when she reached a car parked along the sidewalk. She tugged on the door handle and turned back to Clarice when she found it to be locked.

"Mom?" Bella gazed up at her mother, seeing her frozen at the top of the stairs. Her hand was on the doorknob, ready to rush back inside, as she surveyed the street. "What's wrong? You're acting weird."

"Something feels weird." Clarice stated. "Something feels different, and not good different."

Bella rolled her eyes. "You don't think anything that's different is good." She glanced up and down the street herself. Despite her sarcasm, she knew her mother's instincts were rarely off even if the people she worked for didn't always see it that way. "Can we put the feeling on hold until we get back tonight?"

Clarice sighed, knowing that standing on her front doorstep wasn't productive. "I guess we don't have much choice." Quickly locking the door, she glanced around again and made her way to the car. "What time is rehearsal done tonight?"

"Five. I can get a ride home if you can't make it by then." Bella stated as she and Clarice both climbed into the car.

She shook her head, starting the car with her attention still focused on their surroundings. "If I'm still working, get a ride to my office. I don't want you here alone today." Clarice said before pushing her feelings aside for the moment and turning to her daughter. "Only because I love you."

Bella scoffed, failing to hide the embarrassed smile. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Can we just get going?"

Clarice laughed before pulling out onto the street and taking a right at the park, seeing only empty park benches and jogging paths.

Please review!