DICSLAIMER: I'm not stealing anyone's characters! I'm only trying to entertain myself by writing a mushy fic! Lol! Please don't sue… I don't have much money!

SUMMARY: Dr Lecter visits Starling after Silence of the Lambs and it's something she can't let go off…

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Ok, this is another attempt at a Hannibal fic, which I think is a bit of an improvement from the last ones! Lol! I'd like to dedicate this one to Anouk (a.k.a. Troesnaja) for giving me a LOT of the ideas for this story! And of course Little-Starling for her continuous encouragement! I wouldn't have come as far as I did without you! Thanks!

Visitor By Jane

PART 3:

She didn't feel as she started crying. Clarice was still sitting behind the door to her room. Ardelia was oblivious to any of this and Clarice wondered if she would ever understand. She didn't even understand it herself. What was that significance she lost when he left? She had the scissors as bad a weapon it was, she still had it on her. All she had to do was reach for it. Why didn't she? Did he do that to her on purpose? Did he enjoy watching her suffer? Is that why he always showed up when she was in difficulty?

Shaking her head, Clarice decided that if she couldn't decide then, thinking about it even more wouldn't solve the problem. Rather it might show her something she didn't want to see. Slowly she made her way towards the bed in the darkness. She felt somehow comforted by it, because nobody could see her weaknesses in the dark. Letting her mind slowly wander from the walls of her room, she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Is the handwriting analysis finished?" Crawford asked over the phone, "And?" There was a pause from Crawford as he looked down on some papers at his desk, but visibly was far away.

"I've come up with something that might help us both," Krendler's voice came from the other end of the line.

"What would that be?" Crawford asked in his formal tone of voice and stared at the wall plastered with violent images in his office, while he listened to Krendler. "Listen I don't think…"

"Mr. Crawford you seem to forget who's in charge here," Krendler said, then smiled when Crawford didn't offer further opposiotion.

* * *

Getting into work the next morning she knew it was probably going to be another hopeless day of waiting. Waiting for what she didn't know, or rather would not allow her mind to dwell on. The small cases she received to work on, were quite tiresome, but on the whole worked very well as a distraction from the turmoil in her life. She wondered what she would ever do without work.

She was glad when she checked her watch, because it was time to take a little break. She stretched her unused muscles and closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying some rest. There was an audible knock on her door and her eyes flew open. Mr. Crawford was closing the door behind himself.

"Starling, there's another raid," he said, his voice showing no more emotion than just formality.

She'd learned to strongly dislike the raids, because the danger of failing was high and it was difficult to get everything perfect. They made her feel less than what she thought she was. Nevertheless, she couldn't refuse. There was something inside her that kept telling her it's wrong to refuse a challenge.

"Yes sir," she said shortly.

He gave her the papers explaining everything and went about discussing it, but never fully told her who this was they were dealing with. She couldn't help her wandering thoughts of HIM. He was everywhere and occupied every corner of her mind. There was just no escape from it. And she had to admit she was kicking herself for the bad decision she made that night. If only…

"Starling? Are you alright?" Crawford's voice rang through her thoughts and she woke back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm fine Sir. Please go on," she felt slightly embarrassed for getting distracted so easily. But it was really hard to keep up with Crawford's rambling. She bit her lip to keep a straight face and made an attempt to concentrate.

"Good, now as I was saying," he went on, "you will have the best agents and equipment for this raid…" That suddenly caught her attention. Was she finally getting a promotion? "You'll be in charge alongside two other agents and you're to work together, is that understood? Good." He paused for a moment. "Starling, I don't expect you to succeed in a case we did so little work on, but I expect you to try you're very best. I'm putting you on this because you have some experience…"

She tried to recall anything he might mean by that. "Um… who are we up against, Sir?" she asked.

"It's a serial killer… a new one…" he paused for a short moment, "He's been sighted in the area and we think we might have the location of his home. This man was also involved in weapon smuggling and drug cases," Crawford went on, "We have to move quickly… I expect you on a plane to New Jersey tomorrow morning…"

"Who is this we're dealing with?" Starling could not cover up her curiosity too well. He hardly gave her enough information.

"I expect we'll find out," he said shortly and closed the door behind him as he exited her office. She gave herself a few moments for it all to sink in, before she began reading through the pile of reports on her desk.

* * *

The next morning, hardly able to keep her eyes open, Special Agent Starling was at the airport waiting for her plane to arrive. She could see the agents she would be working with standing across the room. She didn't feel the need to walk over and attempt conversation, because the bureau had no doubt booked them seats on the same row. She sighed heavily and desperately wished she could spend the next few hours in someone else's company. She mentally scolded herself, because she knew whom she meant.

Looking up at the clock, she noted it was almost time and went down to her plane. She was surprised to find that the plane was mostly empty and she was the only one sitting on her row. Letting her muscles relax, as the plane went up, she decided it would be a good time to catch up on her sleep. She didn't notice how quickly her surroundings blurred and she was resting.

Through the cloudy dreams she could hear a faraway voice saying something. It was blurred and echoed, so she could not make out much. There were two voices now and they didn't sound so distant anymore.

"A cup of black tea please," a soothing voice said, "with milk, no sugar"

"Anything else, Sir?" this voice belonged to a woman.

"Yes, a glass of water would be good. Thank you." This time the voice sounded achingly familiar.

Clarice's eyelids slowly opened and she blinked a couple of times to see clearly. She could make out a flight attendant walking away. She hesitantly lifted herself higher in her seat and her whole body stiffened. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a hand… HIS hand… resting on his lap. He was here. On the same plane, sitting next to her!

She really didn't want to look up and meet his eyes, but she couldn't stop herself. Blue met maroon and they regarded each other for a long moment, before his metallic voice broke the silence, "Hello Clarice…"

She couldn't make a sound for a couple of long seconds and then took a moment to look around. She found most of the people around them asleep or reading. "What are you doing here, doctor? I didn't think I'd see you here…"

"Would you believe I just happened to be in the area and stopped by for a little visit? It has been quite long you know…" he said in an amused tone.

"There are other agents on this plane…" she started saying.

"Oh, but would you tell…?" a grin spread across his face when she didn't reply. "I see you have learned a thing or two since the last time we met, Clarice. Now tell me… how's life?"

"It's fine," she replied still looking at him.

He unfolded his newspaper and scanned over the pages. "Ah… always so brief… let me be more specific. How is your precious FBI? Have they been good to you, hmm? But most importantly… have you told them?" There was a teasing tone in his voice that suggested he was very much enjoying the current situation.

She would have to tell him sooner or later and lying would do no good with him. "If you're referring to… that night… no I haven't told…"

"Good girl," his voice rang with amusement, "I trusted you'd keep those incidents between us, but tell me truly… why do you think you don't want to let the FBI know?"

"Because… I just didn't…"

"That is not an answer, Clarice…" his eyes were holding hers once more.

"You still haven't answered my earlier question, Dr Lecter…" she spoke.

He sighed, almost impatiently. "We're back to square one, are we? I'm here because you are, though I expect you should have known that Clarice. Or did you want to hear it from my lips? I've come to pay you a little visit, since we can't stay away for long," he winked, as a grin spread across his face.

She tried to stop a blush from creeping across her face, but found it virtually impossible and tried to look away, even more to his amusement.

"The plane will be landing in half an hour in New Jersey. Please fasten your seat belts and…" the pilot's voice rang from the radio, interrupting their conversation. Clarice was glad of it. She had little time to figure out what she was actually going to do. Was she just going to let him walk away again?

She stood up. "Where are you going, if I may ask?" his eyes were once again on the newspaper pages.

"Just to the bathroom…" she answered walking away.

"I happen to notice…" his voice made her stop, "…that you're buddies from the FBI are in that area"

To most people that wouldn't have sounded like a warning or anything for that matter. But Clarice saw what he meant behind the words. "I won't say "hi"," she answered before making her way to the desired location.

There was the sound of laughing coming from the way she was headed towards and she soon found the cause of it. "Yeah, I heard she and that Lecter guy had a party a few years back. She asked for some desert and he gave her Krendler's head on a plate!" another round of laughing started.

"And then he fried his eyeballs with some chicken ribs!" another agent added and the laughter grew.

Clarice felt anger building inside her. She regretted she didn't have her weapon on her otherwise those agents she was supposed to work with… She shook her head gently. It would do no good to leap at them and give them a beating of a lifetime. Although the idea was somewhat satisfying, she wouldn't give them the pleasure. Attempting to cover up her scowl she walked past them to the bathroom. Hopefully she wouldn't have to "meet" them for a long time.

Returning back to her seat, she found the plane was landing and she had to think quick. Clarice couldn't tell the other agents… not that she was looking forward to seeing them. She couldn't put him in handcuffs here because she had a feeling that might prove difficult. What else was there?

The plane landed and she waited until Dr. Lecter left his seat before following him. "As much as I love your company, my dear, I am still curious as to what you are planning to do once we get out"

"I'll think of something," she answered shortly.

He was completely in her sight. She couldn't lose him. "Starling!? Starling!" She turned to see the source of the shouting to see her partners waving to her. Quickly turning back she looked around eyes wide. Dr Lecter was nowhere in sight. She grunted. It was just like him to disappear like this. Dragging her suitcase along she slowly made her way to the other agents. And she had a feeling this would be just another pointless raid where nothing is accomplished but making her angry at herself for failing. She hated the pointing fingers to her direction when she got the smallest detail wrong. For everyone else it was ok. But not for her…

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Phew! Third part done! I hope you didn't get too bored with waiting but it wasn't as if FF.net was cooperating either! Lol! Thank you for the lovely reviews and of course always tell me what you think of the stuff I write! Reviews are very welcome! I'll try to hurry with the next part! – Jane:)