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Bella stood outside the changing rooms, browsing through a nearby rack without really glancing at the articles of clothing her fingers touched. The store clerks circled like vultures waiting for Winnie to emerge from the changing room with the pile of clothes she had walked in with. It wasn't the first time, but it was the first time she felt relieved to not have to deal with it again.

Winnie grew up swimming in money. And, that never bothered Bella. She was content with the life that she and Clarice led. If anything, she had found that Winnie's life of constant money and trust funds only seemed to dance on her nerves. The fake friendliness from others was the worst. Many had tried to become friendly with her just to get close to Winnie, and she had spent enough time in the principal's office for showing a thing or two to those who attempted to use her.

When they had the privilege to go somewhere and not have a swarm of clerks or false friends approach, Winnie's usually bright and sunny attitude turned to one of sour comments about the lack of attention she was getting. Those days were the ones where Bella took the first opportunity to return home. Winnie became a leech for all her attention. As much as she loved her best friend, she wasn't the kind of person who wanted needy pleas for attention when she hadn't shown any sign of ignoring her.

Her thoughts were interrupted though when the curtain behind her opened and Winnie stepped out in one of the many outfits she had picked out from the store's racks. She made a show of flaunting her every angle, a triumphant smirk on her lips. Bella smiled gently, still forced. "Why am I not surprised by your choice of neon colors?"

Winnie giggled and looked down at the outfit on her. "Dress how you feel, and I feel in bright colors."

One of the clerks flocked over, giving them the few seconds to exchange remarks about the dress, before imposing her own opinions on how Winnie's body was perfect for the dress adorning her frame. Bella took the opportunity to leave the two be, knowing Winnie would eventually come after her when she had laid down her credit card to pay.

Even in the mall, surrounded by people, accompanying her lifelong friend, she felt an absolute loneliness. An empty recess that could not be filled with engaging in the shopping trip or chatting with one of the other browsers in the store. This Bella was a mask, and she was tired of wearing masks. Half of her was tempted to shout the truth about who she was, but the other half knew that doing so would only cement her future of wearing masks.

How ironic? Pretty sure Hannibal was tired of wearing the mask with bars over his mouth.

And, how to feel about Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The initial relief and spark of happiness that filled her when Clarice gave her the information was still fresh, but it hadn't dulled in the slightest. If anything, the knowledge of it only solidified her feelings. Still, she'd probably only seen the most polite Hannibal so far. She'd listened to his taped conversations with Clarice as well. He was always well behaved. It was his nature.

Was he still the polite gentleman when he sunk his teeth into his victim's bodies? His words would contradict his actions, but she imagined he'd keep up with the image of a gracious host. The thought brought a smile to her lips.

"Thinking of me, Starling." Chet's voice whispered into her ear. She felt the air change behind her, and his heavy cologne filled her senses long before he spoke. A hand that didn't belong to her came to rest on the inside of her left thigh, reaching dangerously high. "That smile on your face doesn't fool me."

"Oh, this smile?" Bella quickly turned and manipulated his arm to twist against his side. He grunted to hold in the yelp she was very familiar with from the years of his desire to touch her. "I was thinking of you actually, picturing you bleeding out at my feet."

Chet ripped his arm free, but smirked at her with a nod. "Kinky." He glanced over his shoulder to see Winnie at the checkout counter, oblivious to the encounter between the two of them. "I'm sure your friend has told you about me. C'mon, I'd make it the best twenty minutes of your life, but I'd like to know your body more than just the one time."

Bella stepped back when his hand reached out to touch her again. "Twenty minutes, huh? What would we do with the other nineteen minutes and forty-seven seconds." She smirked when Chet's face blushed with fury. "I'll never sleep with you, Krendler."

"I never said anything about sleeping." Chet's signature charm was back in full swing as he leaned closer to her. "What I want to do to you, you wouldn't dream of sleeping through that."

"Whatever you want to do to me, shove those thoughts up your ass. It isn't going to happen." Bella stated before moving past him. She didn't get far though when his hand enclosed around her arm and tightly pulled her back to him. "Let go of me, Chet."

Chet's charm was gone. His fury was left crystal clear to anyone within the store. "I've been chasing after you since we were kids. I deserve what I've worked so hard for."

Bella couldn't stop the laugh that broke from her throat. "What you've worked for? I'm not a prize. I'm not something you can just expect to eventually bag and tag. I'm not getting into a backseat with you or crowding into a nearby closet. I'm not going to open my mouth or legs for you, so back the fuck off." When he didn't let go of her arm, she glanced down at his hand. "I'll rip that hand off of you."

"Rip it off, huh? I figured being the daughter of Hannibal Lecter's prized Clarice Starling would lead you to bite it off." Chet smirked, leaning in closer to her. "Who knows? You might even be his daughter. Rumors swirl through the FBI, Bella."

Bella smirked. He may say it, but there was no way anybody actually believed it, even if it was the truth. "At least I'd have more brains than you. . .and your father." Chet released her then, nearly tossing her arm aside as if it burned him. "Did I hit a nerve, Krendler? I thought that was rather clever."

The tension was strong, but it didn't seem to gain the attention of Winnie when she bounded over and tugged on Bella's arm. "Chet, as pleasant as it is to see you," her voice was dripping sarcasm, "I have plans with Bella. So, scamper along now."


"Who did you have in mind?" Hannibal asked, smoothing his thumbs over the soles of her feet resting in his lap. After their breakfast and a shorter revisit to their night's activities, they had retired themselves to the couch. The natural turn to a domestic activity between them was not lost either.

Clarice laid with her head on the opposite end of the couch, gazing at him with her arms stretched up and over her head. They dangled over the arm of the couch, fingernails grazing the material that covered its wooden structure. "Well, I was thinking Krendler, but I can't exactly pull off feeling a loss when the bureau knows the history he and I share." She studied his fingers as they moved over her arch. "Making it personal has risks, ones that you would never allow. Some I would never allow. The only other way out would be to do something reckless, to give them the excuse to get rid of me."

"That would drag out the process of leaving even longer." Hannibal breathed, knowing the process to leave would not leave one detail of her psyche alone. Early retirement was best. A clean break, and his lamb would not leave with a tarnished name. She had fought hard to keep her head held high despite the attempts from her superiors to snuff out her moral compass. "I'm okay with risks as long as it does not threaten you or Bella in the slightest. We have the rest of eternity to risk our safety on the run. I'd rather not start testing our limits before we have even begun our life together."

Clarice pulled her feet from his lap as she sat up. Before he could even voice his desire to continue touching her, she threw a leg over both of his and straddled him, running her hands up his chest before clasping them together behind his neck. "Me either. You have been very patient, and I am grateful for that."

Hannibal smiled, resting his hands on her hips. "I believe I should be the one who is grateful, Clarice. For you are the one who raised our little bird." He let his thumbs stroke her sides. "I wonder what it would have felt like to feel her move within you. To watch you swell during your pregnancy. The image of you alone in the hospital after giving birth is slightly haunting."

Clarice remembered the day she had Bella well. She had already been in the hospital for her recent attack, and the infection from it was threatening to kill both her and Bella. Without telling Delia she was in labor, she demanded that her packed bag of clothes and Lecter stash were to be brought to her. Masking her pain, she sent Delia away to work and let the doctor in to deliver Bella before the infection took them both. But, Hannibal didn't need to know about her complications or the attack. It would only upset him now.

During her induced contractions, she listened to the conversations with Hannibal when the nurses and doctor left. She probably would've had the tapes committed to memory if it weren't for the pain distracting her from listening when the contractions hit. After Bella had been born, she was insistent with the doctor that Bella stay in the room with her despite the fact that she was alone and exhausted. She let the tapes play at a low volume, and Bella didn't fuss.

He might not have been there physically, but Clarice made sure Bella knew the sound of her father's voice.

She leaned down and pecked his lips. "I may have been alone, but I didn't want anyone else there with me. I had your voice with me, and Bella knew your voice only after mine." She pressed her forehead to his, inhaling his scent slowly. "And, she loved listening to your voice. There were nights that I could never settle her down. I'd feed her, change her, sing to her. All I had to do was lay her down on my chest, hit the play button, and let your voice soothe her into peaceful slumber."

Hannibal let out a soft snort of amusement. "No wonder she could imitate me so well. She's been listening to it her whole life." He closed his eyes feeling her fingers gliding through the hair at the nape of his neck. "I still wish I had been there for you. Been there to see her enter the world."

"I might be able to help with that." Clarice whispered.

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