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"Apparently she woke up at some point. She's changed from last night's attire." Hannibal stated, walking back into Clarice's room to see her dressing for work. The ribbon he had used to tie the door shut was quickly discarded in the trash can in her bathroom. "The booze must have caught up with her stomach, because she has her trash can by her bedside. Luckily, she hasn't gotten sick yet."

He spoke too soon.

Not a moment later and they heard Bella throwing up in the bathroom next door. Clarice sighed as she clipped her badge to her belt. "I should call Ardelia and explain what happened. Maybe I talk to Winnie too about last night. That couldn't have been fun for her." The thoughts darted away though when they heard another wave crash over Bella and the toilet bowl.

"I'll go raid the kitchen for some dry foods. Hopefully, something will settle her stomach." Hannibal relented before trotting down the stairs.

Clarice briefly observed his behavior. It was like he had truly lived there with them for eighteen years. She smiled at the thought before she heard Bella heave again, quickly moving to the bathroom to check on her daughter.

Bella, sweatshirt, shorts, and hair tied back, was curled over the toilet, and it looked like it took every ounce of energy in her to keep her upright. Clarice kneeled beside her and rubbed her back. "Don't fight it, baby. Your body needs to get rid of it." She felt Bella sway, but kept her upright with a firm arm around her waist. She brushed back the stray strands of hair not long enough to be tied back. "I'm sorry I put you through this."

"You didn't force the bottle of tequila down my throat, Mom." Bella groaned. She coughed a couple times before wiping off her mouth with a piece of toilet paper. She flushed the toilet before dropping onto the floor, leaning heavily against the bathtub. "I don't even remember getting home last night."

"I wouldn't be surprised. You were pretty drunk." Clarice stated before running a washcloth under cold water from the sink and pressing it to Bella's forehead. "I know you were upset, but what you did last night was really stupid. Dangerous even. You were out trying to taunt a serial killer into coming to kill you. You scared the hell out of me, out of Winnie, out of Dr. Lecter. Let me tell you something. It takes a lot to scare him."

Bella closed her eyes against the cold towel. "I really doubt he was scared."

"You'd be wrong." Hannibal piped in, popping from around the corner with a sprite and a package of crackers. "You don't know me well enough yet, but I would kill anyone to prevent what happened last night. I understand my being your father can't be an easy pill to swallow."

Bella sighed before taking the washcloth from Clarice to hold to her own forehead. "It actually was." She rolled her eyes at the shocked expressions on both of their faces, but the action of rolling her eyes made her dizzy. "When you told me he was my father, I was relieved in a way. I always wondered if it was going to be some asshole like Krendler or just some person who you made up because the truth was too hard to talk about."

"I don't understand." Clarice frowned with a shake of her head.

Bella huffed out a breath. "I'm happy he's my father. That's what got me so crazy last night. I knew that I should be furious or sad or in shock, but I was actually happy about it. Discovering that I was happy made me mad at myself. I mean, what seventeen year old is happy to find out her father is a wanted cannibalistic serial killer?" She coughed again, feeling the burn in the back of her throat from last night's alcohol. "Even when we were making dinner last night, I was thrilled when he praised me for cutting vegetables. The normal thing would've been to run out of the house in horror, but I walked right in and cooked with him."

Clarice shrugged. "I didn't run away the first time I met Dr. Lecter."

Hannibal cleared his throat from behind her. "You had bulletproof glass protecting you from me."

"You're not helping." Clarice muttered, reaching back and gently smacking his leg.

Bella smiled before groaning. "Even that! The way you two are. It's disturbingly adorable. What is wrong with me?"

"I believe out of the three of us that you are the most normal one." Hannibal smirked, a finger pressed to his lips. "There's nothing wrong with you. If anything, you are more open-minded than the rest of this cruel world."

"He's right." Clarice added in. "He's a killer. I fell in love with him knowing that and willingly had his child even when the pregnancy caused me to have unsavory, dare I say, cravings. You were bound to be a little less than average."

Bella chuckled at the comment before covering her stomach with a grunt. "Don't make me laugh." She lowered the washcloth, feeling slightly better than she was before. "I don't think being more normal than the two of you is saying much." She glanced at the watch on Clarice's wrist. "Mom, aren't you going to be late for work?"

Clarice glanced down at her watch herself, sighing softly. "Shit. I don't want to leave you alone like this. Maybe I could call in."

"Nonsense. I can watch after her." Hannibal insisted with a wave of his hand. "It gives us the opportunity to bond a little bit."

Bella smiled at her mother's worried glance to her. "It's alright. I feel perfectly safe with him."

"It's him I'm worried about." Clarice smirked before kissing Bella's forehead. She stood and turned to Hannibal, pecking his lips. "I'll call later to check in on you two. Text me if anything happens."

"We'll be fine." Hannibal called after her before she rushed out the door to go to work. He turned back to his little bird, tiredly sitting next to the toilet. "How are you feeling?"

Bella gave him a smirk. "Like a million bucks."

Hannibal chuckled hearing the sarcasm laced in her words. "Do you think you're going to get sick again or do you think you can manage to make it downstairs? I'm sure the couch is a lot more comfortable than the floor."

Bella held out her hands, wiggling her fingers like a small child would asking to be carried. "Help me up?"


Hannibal sat down beside Bella on the couch. She was curled up under the blanket he had covered her with the other night and watching some cooking competition show on the television. "You've got some color back. The dry foods must be settling nicely."

Bella glanced over at him. "They are. Thank you." She observed him for a moment, watching as he draped an arm over the back of the couch behind her. He looked content, but she could tell he was anything but. Her mother was right. He was a mastermind at keeping people away at arm's length unless you knew what to look for. "Are you happy to be a father? I haven't exactly been a darling daughter so far who has you wrapped around her finger."

The twitch of his lips made her smirk inside. At least she could amuse him despite their rough beginning. "You're as blunt as your mother, and that's one of the things I love about her." He looked over at her peering at him over her covered shoulder. "To answer your question, I have mixed emotions. For the most part, I am thrilled to be a father. Never thought I would have the chance to be one. But, I do fear what I passed onto you. I enjoy the life I lead, but that does not mean you want the cravings that I live with."

"For blood?" Bella asked, turning onto her back and playing with her fingers.

Hannibal sighed. "I crave to rid the world of people who are not worth my time. I do enjoy their taste, but it's not what drives me to take a life." He waved his hand towards her. "Much like your distaste of the young Mr. Krendler."

Bella gagged at the thought of Chet coupled with her weakened stomach. "Can we not talk about him?" She slowly sat up, holding his eyes. "Would you actually kill him for me?"

"There isn't much I wouldn't do for you, love." Hannibal admitted before squeezing her arm gently, glad when she didn't seem to tense with anxiety or fear. "What about you? You've met me. Have I met your imagination as to what I would be like?"

Bella smirked. "Well, you've already risked freedom to save me from my first drunken stupor, and you would kill for me. Pretty sure you've exceeded any expectations I've had." She brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them with both arms. "To be honest, you have surpassed my expectations. My mom only hangs out with FBI agents, and for years I feared that I was just an FBI child whose father didn't want her. As much as Mom tried to take away that fear, it was always there."

Hannibal let a sad smile grace his features. "Being unwanted is not a pleasant feeling. I'll be the one, outside of your mother, to tell you that you are very much wanted. I wouldn't have the desire to protect you if you weren't."

"Is there anyone outside of my mother and I that you would protect?" Bella asked, tilting her head to rest against the back of the couch near his hand. Her eyes sparkled like Clarice's with curiosity. It was a sight that both excited and terrified him for the mystery that the women personified.

Hannibal crossed one leg over the other and let a silence hang between them, carefully crafting his answer. "There was once." He stated with a gentle nod. "I had a younger sister in my homeland. When she died, I was too little to protect her. When I got older, I sought revenge for her death and for the little boy who could do nothing to save her. Who could do nothing to stop what he would eventually become."

"You ate them." Bella's conclusion was not a question nor really a statement, more an acceptance to herself of his method of choice.

"They could have fed me remains of my sister, Mischa." Hannibal relented. It was a piece of his past he had not told many. The only other was Clarice and that was the night they had finally given into their desires. She asked a question much like Bella's, and he spoke of the experience for the first time in his entire life. "We were starved, and I wasn't aware of what I was eating at the time. It wasn't until later that I learned what happened to her."

Bella felt the bile in the back of her throat. The pain on his face spoke volumes as to how tortured he was over the guilt, and it brought tears to her eyes to think that he didn't really choose this life either. Maneuvering herself under her blanket, she huddled herself into Hannibal's side, resting her head against his shoulder and an arm across his torso in a side hug. "I'm sorry."

Hannibal wrapped his arms around her tightly, kissing her hairline. "It's not your fault. Besides, it was long ago. Nothing you should worry yourself over." He felt a warmth in his chest as he held her. The realization finally catching up to the information. She was his. It didn't matter where in the world she was or who she was with. She was forever his. His little bird. "It seems you have begun a quid pro quo, my darling."

Bella let out a chuckle into his chest, not noticing the grin that covered his face. She had heard the term many times listening to the tapes between her parents. Odd to find it comforting rather than redundant. "It seems as though I have. I believe it's your turn."

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