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Hannibal and Bella both stood when the fire alarm rang out, the bulb labeled 'fire' flashing in the corner above them. "That's not good." Hannibal breathed, keeping a protective arm around his daughter.
That's when the door shook with the banging of a fist. Cooper's voice called in from the other side. "Ms. Starling, we need to evacuate the building now. Do not grab anything. Come out now."
"Dad, Will's here." Bella stated, gripping onto his hand. "That has to be him."
"Go with the agents. There's four on this floor. They will protect you and your mother." Hannibal ordered her, guiding her towards the door. He kissed her forehead. "I will find a way to get back to you two. Now go." He hid behind the door as he opened it for Bella.
Bella was pulled out by Cooper, and she looked back to see the door close behind her. Her heart dropped to her stomach when she didn't see Clarice with the agents. "Where's my mom?"
"We are looking for her." One of the agents said behind her. He urged her forward. "We need to go, Miss."
Bella felt their hands grab at her arms to walk with her towards the elevators, but she looked up to see Will coming towards them and raising his gun. "Gun!" She ripped free from the agents and rushed back to her hotel room door. Her hands shook as she heard first and second gunshots. She didn't dare look back, even hearing the drop of bodies on the floor. The third gunshot hit her ears as her fingers grabbed the key card in her pocket, the fourth shot ringing out right after.
The fifth sent a pain coursing up her leg, and she dropped to the floor, crying out. She looked back down the hall to see Will coming closer. The ear she had bit was mangled, and it looked like he had cut off the piece she had damaged. The eye she stabbed was covered with an eyepatch, blood seeping out like teardrops below it.
Bella pounded on the door and screamed. "Daddy!"
The door opened, and Hannibal's hand reached out to her. "Bella!" When her hand slapped into his, he yanked her inside the room and kicked the door shut. He quickly moved over her, seeing the gunshot wound in her thigh. Her hand still clung to his, and her body wracked with sobs. "We need to get the bullet out. It doesn't appear to have hit any veins or arteries."
The door shook again, the doorknob rattling as if it were about to break off. Another shot rang out, and the door flew open to reveal Will. Hannibal moved in front of Bella, blocking her, and he felt her sit up and cling to his back. "Good evening, Will."
"Dr. Lecter." Will greeted, his voice low. He motioned for Hannibal to move to the side. "I've come to call on your daughter."
"I cannot let you do that." Hannibal's voice was calm, but he pulled Bella closer with his hand on the small of her back. "I know that you harbor ill feelings towards me, but Bella has nothing to do with what has transpired between us."
Will pointed his gun at Bella. "I've met her once, and she's already tasted my blood. The DNA she has needs to be destroyed. That also includes you."
Hannibal glanced towards the hallway. "Where's Agent Starling, Will?"
"Here's what's going to happen." Will stated. "You are going to dress the wound in your daughter's leg. I have a van downstairs. You will carry her down and load her in, and I will leave with her. Agent Starling is in the janitor's closet. If the firemen haven't found her, you can come back up and get her. I will call on the two of you when we're ready. Don't worry. I won't kill your daughter until you arrive."
"I'll need a first aid kit." Hannibal stated before removing his tie. He folded it over before handing it to Bella. "You're going to want to bite down on this when the time comes." Pulling out his harpy, he tried to ignore Bella's whine when he started cutting off the denim leg of her jeans to allow him full access. He peered over his shoulder to Will when he walked over with a first aid kit from the closet. "I'll need alcohol to sterilize the wound."
Will moved to the mini fridge. "Anything in particular, Doctor?"
Hannibal smirked at Bella. "Anything but tequila." He was somewhat relieved when Bella let out a strangled chuckle, but her tears kept flowing. Will handed him a small bottle of vodka with the top already unsealed. "Alright, it's time to use that tie, because this is going to hurt."
Will pushed the barrel of the gun against the back of Hannibal's neck. "Let's move this along."
Bella put the folded tie in her mouth with a shaking hand before Hannibal urged her to lay on her back. Closing her eyes, she counted how many beats her heart made in her ears until the vodka hit her leg, sending another burning sensation. Her teeth clenched around the tie as it muffled her cry.
Hannibal put a hand on her stomach to help her settle down but turned to speak to Will. "Get me a few towels from the bathroom." He looked back to Bella, her eyes clenched shut and her chest expanding and collapsing at an alarming rate. "Bella, I need you to take deep breaths. I know this hurts, but I can't have you passing out on me." She nodded, but doing as he asked was proving difficult for her. He gritted his own teeth when Will tossed the towels on top of Bella as if tossing trash into a garbage bin. "That was very rude, Will."
"I wasn't hoping to be polite." Will stated before repositioning his arm. "You're lucky I'm letting you help her at all."
Hannibal took one of the towels and pressed it against Bella's hands. Her nails were threatening to break the skin of her palms with her white knuckle grip. "Hold onto this." She grasped onto it, her fists trembling. Grabbing another towel, he placed it underneath Bella's leg carefully to absorb the blood seeping out. With the last, he wiped away the access alcohol. "Okay, I'm going to remove the bullet. I need you to stay as still as possible. Do you understand, Bella?"
Bella straightened out her leg with a great deal of effort, nodding up at Hannibal. He dug in the first aid kit, quickly finding the tweezers and pouring alcohol over them. Pressing a hand down on her thigh above the bleeding, he guided the tweezers into the wound until he felt the resistance of the bullet. She jerked at the first contact but relaxed her leg again, taking deep breaths. "Hold tight." He whispered.
Once he opened the tweezers, her entire body began trembling. He knew the small metal ends were digging into her tissues so he could get a grip on the bullet. Despite her trembling, he was able to grab the bullet and ease it out of her thigh. His initial assessment was right when only a small trickle of blood followed the bullet. No bleeding out to worry about. He dropped the bullet into his palm and pocketed it before grabbing a bandage, pressing it over the hole. "Alright, Bella, the worst is over. May I have my tie back?"
Bella opened her mouth, taking the tie out, and sat up. "Holy shit." She watched as Hannibal straightened out the purple fabric, and she lifted her leg enough for him to wrap it around her thigh and tie it off. She chuckled through the pain, her teeth gritted together as she glared at Will. "You are going to die tonight."
"That's not what I have planned." Will smiled at her before lifting his eye patch. He had pulled out the nail clippers and the eye, leaving a bloody socket. "You are going to pay for this."
"Right back at you." Bella spat.
Will nudged Hannibal's shoulder. "Pick her up. Let's go."
Hannibal moved his arms under Bella's legs carefully. "Put your arm around my neck." Once she was secure, he moved his other arm under her back and hugged her ribcage against his before picking her up. "You okay?"
"Define okay." Bella rolled her eyes as she held onto Hannibal. "Are you gonna get Mom?"
"Yes, when I find her, we'll come get you." Hannibal explained calmly as he stepped onto the elevator ahead of Will. "Will has graciously agreed to not kill you until we are there. He wants me to suffer by watching you die."
Bella grunted when the sudden movement of the elevator made Hannibal hold her tighter. "How comforting." She laid her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes. "I told you we should've just left when I decided."
Hannibal grinned. Obviously his daughter wasn't even going to let a bullet take away her sarcasm. "If we make it through tonight, it looks like you'll get your wish. It seems as though we'll have to wait for Will to call on us. Is there anything you want us to grab?"
"Anything you gave me, including the tapes." Bella hummed softly. "My hawk. The blanket Mom and I made. The walkman. Joe gave me an envelope with his name on it. I think it's on the coffee table in the living room still."
The elevator doors opened, and Will prodded Hannibal forward with the gun jabbed into his spine. He walked off and saw a large blue van close by. "I will be sure to get those." He waited while Will opened up the back doors to the van. It was engineered like a cage. The only way in and out was through the back, blocked off from the front with bars. A queen mattress was in the back, and Hannibal wondered if Will had made this his living arrangement when his apartment was raided.
Bella felt Hannibal's grip on her tighten when he saw the mattress in the back, and she felt her own stomach drop. But, she had a feeling that Will wouldn't get much enjoyment out of torturing her in the back of a van when nobody was around. He wanted revenge on Hannibal, not her. "It's okay, Daddy."
Hannibal maneuvered himself onto the bumper, gently setting Bella down on the mattress. He grabbed the pillows, setting one behind Bella's back and the other under her injured leg. "Are you comfortable?"
"As much as I can be." Bella breathed before hugging him. "Promise you'll come back for me."
"I promise my life to you, little bird." Hannibal whispered. He cupped her cheek in his hand, kissing her forehead. "We'll be there before you know it." He gently tapped the tie pin and tack still attached to the tie around her leg. "Keep pressure off of this bandage."
Bella glanced down at the two items before nodding. "I will."
Hannibal kept his composure when he nearly fell out of the vehicle with Will yanking at the collar of his shirt. "It's nice to see you genuinely care about someone, Doctor. It will make it all the more enjoyable for me when I make you watch the life drain out of her." Will said with a hint of admiration in his voice. With his gun still trained on Hannibal, he slammed the two doors shut and backed up to the driver's seat. "Go get your girl, Doctor. Keep that burner on you. I'll let you know when we're ready."
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