Athena walked what she hoped was casually from store to store , an
occasional shake of her hands or leg was the only nervousness she showed.
She hated being to nervous all the time , just a little shopping trip (in
which she wasn't even stealing anything!) was wrecking her nerves. The
shopping bags she carried were for each person. Pants and shirts for Doctor
Lecter along with a pair of shoes (this had been a more interesting
endeavor. The sales man couldn't quite understand what she was trying to
accomplish , thena gain , neither could Athena.) , Pants , skirts , and
some shirts for Clarice along with a pair of tennis shoes , and now Athena
was shopping for herself. She had a few pairs of jeans and shirts , but
Doctor Lecter expressed the need for running shoes and some formal clothing
, so she was looking.
After purchasing a pair of shoes , Athena started across the outlets to a store that looked well enough to buy something formal , when a hand swiftly jerked out to meet her elbow. She froze and looked at her captor wide eyed. It was a tall , pale skinned and gangly young man. Athena , being somewhat short , was at a bit of a dis advantage as he mumbled to her.
"Don't say a WORD."
She mumbled a silent protest and tried to pull away as she came to her senses. The man rolled his eyes and pull her down the sidewalk.
"Come on , little girl , I have money waiting for me."
Athena was thankful as the (obviously stupid) man didn't notice the passing secuirty guard watching them and she suddenly screamed "rape" , pulling away from the man who now looked confused. The security guard ran for the man , clearly glad to have something happen. Athena watched as the guard slammed the man against the wall like some sort of action movie , clearly overly happy about the whole deal , and she watched the man's wallet fall to the ground as she prepared to run.
"Well , might as well make it a good thing." Athena muttered , grabbing at the wallet. She then took off through the crowd of spectators.
She rounded a corner , almost loosing one of her bags , and took off through the parking lot. A car howled their horn at her and Athena ran over to the one containing Doctor Lecter and Clarice. They looked at her oddly as she jumped into the car , threw the bags across the back seat , and tossed the wallet up front.
"Some guy tried to attack me , Said crap about money , and dropped his bloody wallet when the security guard grabbed him. Now , since I got your junk , can we PLEASE get out of here?!" Athena demanaded in one large breath.
Clarice had began fishing through the wallet quickly and Doctor Lecter had backed out , driving calmly back onto the interstate.
"Well , I suppose this man was probably our little tipper , hmm? Clarice , is there any identification in there?"
She shrugged slightly "Any smart person wouldn't carry identification doing anything like that…" she began , then smiled. "Well , he was dumb. Jeffrey Glen Bronsen. And he's just twenty…three."
Hannibal nodded , then name not registering anything in his mind.
"Must just be looking for the money , as you said , Athena. Well , we'll just have to get back to him then , won't we? Next time we're in the U.S. I suppose."
Clarice gave him an odd look , still shifting through his credit cards and various pieces.
"We're leaving the country?"
"Of course , Clarice. You can't expect us to stay here , can you? The United States has far too many walls and barriers keeping us in place. Like birds , we must stretch our wings to be free…little Starling." Hannibal teased , smiling lightly to himself.
Clarice sighed and shook her head , closing the wallet.
"Do you have our identities ready? Passports?" Athena asked from her back seat
"Yes , Athena , all except Clarice's. Our's have been ready for a few days , but we need to get one for you , Clarice. And You're going to have to do something with that hair of yours." Hannibal gave Clarice a slight grin , and she frowned.
"What type of something?"
"Ah…something , Clarice."
Athena smiled from her perch on the end of the bed as she watched Clarice walk out of the bathroom with Doctor Lecter. She was dressed casually , her makeup had darkened her skin somewhat , and the more noticeable feature was her hair. Or perhaps the color. Jet black.
Clarice didn't look pleased , and Doctor Lecter was grinning.
"You do know how much I enjoyed the red , don't you? This is only temporary , you know." Hannibal explained.
Clarice nodded "Yes…but it REALLY is not funny."
"Clarice , It isn't funny…It's just…different , is that right?" Athena suggested
Hannibal smiled to her and nodded. "Perfectly. Athena , go ahead and get your shower and whatnot. We are going to go get her the passport picture taken."
The pair retreated and Doctor Lecter froze upon reaching the knob , turning with his hand still upon it.
"And Athena , " He began , giving her a long look , "Be wise."
And before she could say anything , they were gone. Athena sighed and stood from her bed , gathering some clothes up before walking into the small bathroom. This afternoon they were to be on a coach flight to paris , Doctor Lecter , using the glorious features of the internet , had pre- rented them a little flatt and was looking forward to seeing the city again.
Athen hoped she would be able to explore the city alone , without Doctor Lecter clinging onto her elbow. She HAD to go shopping the other day alone , and in view of what had happenned , Athena wasn't sure why Doctor Lecter had left her at the hotel alone. She got dressed and frowned at her footwear , a pair of boot like shoes that she had been wearing the night they left the home , but decided to put up with it.
Athena sat down at the desk and watched the television expectantly , watching the news repeat itself constantly. She quickly grew bored , only watching long enough for a short review of the Lecter issue run again before changing the channel on to a rather obnoxious music channel. The sounds of rock videos filled the hotel room , and Athena smiled. Doctor Lecter would of killed her right then for the selection…
"Aww , And is this your daughter?" The clerk almost squeeled as Hannibal , Clarice , and Athena attempted to get through the airport to their gate. They stood at the ticket counter , retreiving their boarding passes.
Athena quirked an eyebrow , looking very alarmed but both humoured that , she being a african american teenager AND in the company of two adults who looked not even remotely like each other or her , would be getting this type of treatment. Clarice looked severely annoyed by the perkiness displayed before her , and Hannibal was sure she was about to snap something out to the poor woman so he cut in pleasently.
"Yes , We look terribly alike , don't we?" He smiled , showing his perfectly small teeth and wrapping an arm around Athena's shoulders. Athena tried not to laugh at how terribly sarcastic he was being , and Hannibal reached out to take the boarding passes , wheeling Athena around so the trio continued down the corridor towards a sign pointing to "A16"
Athena wiggled out of his embrace and Clarice laughed lightly.
"Well…it's not everyday that happens." She smiled
Hannibal smiled back and grasped her hand.
"It's good to ehar you laugh again , Clarice."
Athena sighed , watching them , and looked around her. She had been very paranoid before the woman's rather off comment , and it had melted away but way returning slowly. At any moment she felt like someone would reach out and grab her shoulder or something…whisper her name…and then she'd completely loose it.
They neared their gate , and Athena was becoming very apprehensive as she spotted the security they must go through first. She tightened up her muscles and Hannibal dropped his arm around Clarice's waist as they came to the gate.
The three dropped their metal items into the basket and put the bags on the conveyor belt . As they walked through , displaying their passports , one of the Security Guards stopped at Clarice.
Hannibal and athena stood on the toher side watching curiously as the Guard interrogated her , eyes frequently flicking from the passport to her face. Finally , he muttered a last something and took her elbow politely. Clarice called to Hannibal and Athena , and they followed her and the guard towards a door at the other end of the corridor. A knot twisted itself into the bottom of Athena's stomach.
After purchasing a pair of shoes , Athena started across the outlets to a store that looked well enough to buy something formal , when a hand swiftly jerked out to meet her elbow. She froze and looked at her captor wide eyed. It was a tall , pale skinned and gangly young man. Athena , being somewhat short , was at a bit of a dis advantage as he mumbled to her.
"Don't say a WORD."
She mumbled a silent protest and tried to pull away as she came to her senses. The man rolled his eyes and pull her down the sidewalk.
"Come on , little girl , I have money waiting for me."
Athena was thankful as the (obviously stupid) man didn't notice the passing secuirty guard watching them and she suddenly screamed "rape" , pulling away from the man who now looked confused. The security guard ran for the man , clearly glad to have something happen. Athena watched as the guard slammed the man against the wall like some sort of action movie , clearly overly happy about the whole deal , and she watched the man's wallet fall to the ground as she prepared to run.
"Well , might as well make it a good thing." Athena muttered , grabbing at the wallet. She then took off through the crowd of spectators.
She rounded a corner , almost loosing one of her bags , and took off through the parking lot. A car howled their horn at her and Athena ran over to the one containing Doctor Lecter and Clarice. They looked at her oddly as she jumped into the car , threw the bags across the back seat , and tossed the wallet up front.
"Some guy tried to attack me , Said crap about money , and dropped his bloody wallet when the security guard grabbed him. Now , since I got your junk , can we PLEASE get out of here?!" Athena demanaded in one large breath.
Clarice had began fishing through the wallet quickly and Doctor Lecter had backed out , driving calmly back onto the interstate.
"Well , I suppose this man was probably our little tipper , hmm? Clarice , is there any identification in there?"
She shrugged slightly "Any smart person wouldn't carry identification doing anything like that…" she began , then smiled. "Well , he was dumb. Jeffrey Glen Bronsen. And he's just twenty…three."
Hannibal nodded , then name not registering anything in his mind.
"Must just be looking for the money , as you said , Athena. Well , we'll just have to get back to him then , won't we? Next time we're in the U.S. I suppose."
Clarice gave him an odd look , still shifting through his credit cards and various pieces.
"We're leaving the country?"
"Of course , Clarice. You can't expect us to stay here , can you? The United States has far too many walls and barriers keeping us in place. Like birds , we must stretch our wings to be free…little Starling." Hannibal teased , smiling lightly to himself.
Clarice sighed and shook her head , closing the wallet.
"Do you have our identities ready? Passports?" Athena asked from her back seat
"Yes , Athena , all except Clarice's. Our's have been ready for a few days , but we need to get one for you , Clarice. And You're going to have to do something with that hair of yours." Hannibal gave Clarice a slight grin , and she frowned.
"What type of something?"
"Ah…something , Clarice."
Athena smiled from her perch on the end of the bed as she watched Clarice walk out of the bathroom with Doctor Lecter. She was dressed casually , her makeup had darkened her skin somewhat , and the more noticeable feature was her hair. Or perhaps the color. Jet black.
Clarice didn't look pleased , and Doctor Lecter was grinning.
"You do know how much I enjoyed the red , don't you? This is only temporary , you know." Hannibal explained.
Clarice nodded "Yes…but it REALLY is not funny."
"Clarice , It isn't funny…It's just…different , is that right?" Athena suggested
Hannibal smiled to her and nodded. "Perfectly. Athena , go ahead and get your shower and whatnot. We are going to go get her the passport picture taken."
The pair retreated and Doctor Lecter froze upon reaching the knob , turning with his hand still upon it.
"And Athena , " He began , giving her a long look , "Be wise."
And before she could say anything , they were gone. Athena sighed and stood from her bed , gathering some clothes up before walking into the small bathroom. This afternoon they were to be on a coach flight to paris , Doctor Lecter , using the glorious features of the internet , had pre- rented them a little flatt and was looking forward to seeing the city again.
Athen hoped she would be able to explore the city alone , without Doctor Lecter clinging onto her elbow. She HAD to go shopping the other day alone , and in view of what had happenned , Athena wasn't sure why Doctor Lecter had left her at the hotel alone. She got dressed and frowned at her footwear , a pair of boot like shoes that she had been wearing the night they left the home , but decided to put up with it.
Athena sat down at the desk and watched the television expectantly , watching the news repeat itself constantly. She quickly grew bored , only watching long enough for a short review of the Lecter issue run again before changing the channel on to a rather obnoxious music channel. The sounds of rock videos filled the hotel room , and Athena smiled. Doctor Lecter would of killed her right then for the selection…
"Aww , And is this your daughter?" The clerk almost squeeled as Hannibal , Clarice , and Athena attempted to get through the airport to their gate. They stood at the ticket counter , retreiving their boarding passes.
Athena quirked an eyebrow , looking very alarmed but both humoured that , she being a african american teenager AND in the company of two adults who looked not even remotely like each other or her , would be getting this type of treatment. Clarice looked severely annoyed by the perkiness displayed before her , and Hannibal was sure she was about to snap something out to the poor woman so he cut in pleasently.
"Yes , We look terribly alike , don't we?" He smiled , showing his perfectly small teeth and wrapping an arm around Athena's shoulders. Athena tried not to laugh at how terribly sarcastic he was being , and Hannibal reached out to take the boarding passes , wheeling Athena around so the trio continued down the corridor towards a sign pointing to "A16"
Athena wiggled out of his embrace and Clarice laughed lightly.
"Well…it's not everyday that happens." She smiled
Hannibal smiled back and grasped her hand.
"It's good to ehar you laugh again , Clarice."
Athena sighed , watching them , and looked around her. She had been very paranoid before the woman's rather off comment , and it had melted away but way returning slowly. At any moment she felt like someone would reach out and grab her shoulder or something…whisper her name…and then she'd completely loose it.
They neared their gate , and Athena was becoming very apprehensive as she spotted the security they must go through first. She tightened up her muscles and Hannibal dropped his arm around Clarice's waist as they came to the gate.
The three dropped their metal items into the basket and put the bags on the conveyor belt . As they walked through , displaying their passports , one of the Security Guards stopped at Clarice.
Hannibal and athena stood on the toher side watching curiously as the Guard interrogated her , eyes frequently flicking from the passport to her face. Finally , he muttered a last something and took her elbow politely. Clarice called to Hannibal and Athena , and they followed her and the guard towards a door at the other end of the corridor. A knot twisted itself into the bottom of Athena's stomach.