Chapter 18: NEWS
NA – Didn't think I'd do that, would you? Well if any of you want to see blood n' gore, then I have to have some good reason to put it in there. I at least try to make Hannibal have a really good excuse for what he does. The man may be insane, but he's lucid!
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/- /-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Hannibal had been anxious when Clarice lied to him over the phone. Why she had any reason to lie to him, he didn't know. She knew he would take care of her, if he could. Even if she just told him what was wrong, he would've tried to help her to the best of his ability. Surely she knew and understood that. Yet when she lied to him, that cut him deeply. Still, he was sure there had to be a good reason behind it.
Three days had passed since that phone call, and from then on, he had been unable to reach her. The phone was always turned off, or Ardelia answered. She would tell Hannibal that Clarice didn't want to talk to him. That, of course, was a lie. He could read the tones in her voice perfectly. Something was going on, and he didn't like the way things were turning out. Then again, perhaps Clarice had learned where she was being transferred to, and they didn't want her telling him – at least until after she was in the new secured area. Still, he was extremely upset.
He picked up the cell phone from off the dusty orderly lounge table, where there sat remnants of a bologna sandwich with cheese and mayonnaise, as well as a bottle of Nestea iced tea with lemon. Unsweetened. The place was mostly dark, for he only had the little black and white portable TV on, the sound turned all the way down.
"Mapp."
"I want to talk to Clarice – now!" He spat.
"Dr. Lecter, I told you no. Now please excuse me. I have to get going."
The phone hung up, and he growled, tossing the useless piece of mechanical junk to the floor in his fury. This was driving him even further into insanity than he already was. Clarice had been ill the last time he spoke to her, and Ardelia wouldn't even tell him what had happened. She wouldn't say if Clarice was better or worse. She wouldn't say when they were moving her so he could at least know how busy they would be on certain days. That, naturally, was a very wise move on the FBI's part.
He turned to the TV then, and suddenly saw a news broadcaster standing just outside of the nearest minimum security correctional facility. He knew that was where Clarice had been for the past weeks, and so in curiosity, reached out to push the volume up. The attractive young redhead with green eyes had a sweet low voice as he began to listen.
"…Waiting for a glimpse of the former FBI agent, Clarice Starling, who has recently been arrested for unclear charges having to do with the infamous Dr. Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter." She said. "We're hoping that we'll be able to ask her some questions before she's taken off to a new secure location where the FBI apparently hopes to keep her safe from the criminal she was once claimed to have aided in escaping first a secure location in Tennessee… and then the Chesapeake where one of her fellow FBI officers was mutilated and killed by the Doctor."
Hannibal only listened with half of an ear. The ramblings of the reporter didn't really interest him. The only thing she'd said of any interest was that soon Clarice would be walking out of the doors to the building just over her shoulder… and that he would catch his first glimpse of her in a very long time.
-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^- ^-^-^-
"Now don't say anything to them out there." Ardelia whispered to Clarice as the handcuffs binding her wrists behind her back were checked. Clarice had refused to place a coat over her head so that she could be spared being seen by the video cameras, and Ardelia feared she knew why. "They're vultures, Clarice, and I'm sure that no good will come out of speaking to them. It will only harm your situation further."
"Whatever you say, Agent Mapp." Clarice replied with snapping sarcasm. She was getting very good at behaving like the Good Doctor when she truly wanted to.
Agent Mapp took her arm above the elbow, and escorted her outside. Immediately, camera lights blinded them, and flashes of blue could be seen from the blackness beyond the bright white lights. There were over a dozen shouting voices, all yelling to Clarice at once. Ridiculous questions, most of them. For a while, it seemed they would make it through the crowd without circumstance… yet Clarice suddenly stopped walking, and turned to a particular camera. She smiled faintly, and said to the entire audience.
"I'm pregnant."
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^- ^-^-^-
The bottle of Nestea he'd been about to take a lingering sip from fell from Hannibal's fingers, and landed hard on the sickly colored carpet. He could hear the gurgle-gurgle-gurgle-blunk-gurgle as the liter bottle began to empty its' contents all over the floor, yet he wasn't paying any attention to it. His eyes were glued to the screen, where a thin and seemingly uneasy – but happy – Clarice was escorted hastily past the remaining reporters, and into a inconspicuous looking white fan with faded paint, scratches, and chips. The license plate was not shown by the cameras, and he knew that was the work of FBI agents telling the cameras ahead of time not to film it even by accident.
'Pregnant? My Clarice?' he wondered to himself, feeling his heart hammer inside his ribs. 'My Clarice is pregnant with our baby? It couldn't be anyone else's… of course. I know she hasn't been with anyone else in over a year. I've watched her closely enough.'
It seemed strange to him. More than strange. He was delighted, euphoric even. Yet it was strange. The Good Doctor Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter… a father? Very odd indeed. He finally smiled, and crouched down to straighten the fallen liter of iced tea, which had only a fourth of liquid left in it.
As he walked to a cabinet to pick up a roll of paper towels which he'd bought over the past few weeks, there was a sudden change to the building. Hannibal could feel the place shudder, and then there was a hum of electricity. In slight alarm, he lifted his eyes to the ceiling. Was someone in the building, turning the power on? Or was the power being turned on from an outer source? Had they found him, or had someone decided to buy and restore the place? He knew nothing of it being for sale. As he waited, the lights above him suddenly flickered a few times, then came on. Most of the bulbs in the ceiling had died, and one empty socket momentarily shot white and blue sparks, then relaxed.
'I think I have visitors.' He mused to himself. 'And they've found the fuse box.'
Reaching for the TV, he quickly pressed the off button, and then silently slipped out of the room. The fuse box was in the sub-levels of the building, where he was. Yet the place was big enough where he was certain he might sneak about and find out who his unwelcome callers were. Edging through each corridor, he listened for voices.
"Now… how the hell are we supposed to find a clean cell? Look at this place."
"We'll just have to work on it. Even if we aren't finished when they get here."
"We don't have much time, you know."
"Well he'll never think to look here. Ardelia told us to do a job, so we're doing it."
Two agents, he realized, leaning against a wall in silence. He even held his breath. His heart was still pounding at the news that Clarice was pregnant. Did they hear it? He didn't think so. He hoped not. Both of the agents now in his domain were male. Sneaking towards a corner, he peeked around it. The agents were too busy struggling with old keys in the jammed lock of an office door to notice him there. One of them was tall with rusty colored hair, and light blue eyes. The colorings made Hannibal think of himself just a little bit at a younger age. The other man was just a little bit taller than average height for a man his age. He had black, slightly curly hair, and deep green eyes. Hannibal immediately thought of an Irishman he'd once met in his travels. Neither of them was armed. He could tell by the way their suits fit the contours of their bodies. They were strapping younger men, so he wasn't surprised they made their clothes fit so well.
"Why the hell doesn't she bring the woman to a more secure location? There wont be anyone here to watch her, or watch out for Lecter."
That piqued his interest. Then he realized precisely what they were talking about.
Clarice… they were bringing Clarice to this place. How convenient!
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/- /-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
NA – any ideas? I need to get rid of these two without causing too much trouble. I'm sorry but I'm not very good at blood n' gore…well I am but I'd rather be discreet. Give me a bit of time to get the next chapter up.
NA – Didn't think I'd do that, would you? Well if any of you want to see blood n' gore, then I have to have some good reason to put it in there. I at least try to make Hannibal have a really good excuse for what he does. The man may be insane, but he's lucid!
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/- /-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Hannibal had been anxious when Clarice lied to him over the phone. Why she had any reason to lie to him, he didn't know. She knew he would take care of her, if he could. Even if she just told him what was wrong, he would've tried to help her to the best of his ability. Surely she knew and understood that. Yet when she lied to him, that cut him deeply. Still, he was sure there had to be a good reason behind it.
Three days had passed since that phone call, and from then on, he had been unable to reach her. The phone was always turned off, or Ardelia answered. She would tell Hannibal that Clarice didn't want to talk to him. That, of course, was a lie. He could read the tones in her voice perfectly. Something was going on, and he didn't like the way things were turning out. Then again, perhaps Clarice had learned where she was being transferred to, and they didn't want her telling him – at least until after she was in the new secured area. Still, he was extremely upset.
He picked up the cell phone from off the dusty orderly lounge table, where there sat remnants of a bologna sandwich with cheese and mayonnaise, as well as a bottle of Nestea iced tea with lemon. Unsweetened. The place was mostly dark, for he only had the little black and white portable TV on, the sound turned all the way down.
"Mapp."
"I want to talk to Clarice – now!" He spat.
"Dr. Lecter, I told you no. Now please excuse me. I have to get going."
The phone hung up, and he growled, tossing the useless piece of mechanical junk to the floor in his fury. This was driving him even further into insanity than he already was. Clarice had been ill the last time he spoke to her, and Ardelia wouldn't even tell him what had happened. She wouldn't say if Clarice was better or worse. She wouldn't say when they were moving her so he could at least know how busy they would be on certain days. That, naturally, was a very wise move on the FBI's part.
He turned to the TV then, and suddenly saw a news broadcaster standing just outside of the nearest minimum security correctional facility. He knew that was where Clarice had been for the past weeks, and so in curiosity, reached out to push the volume up. The attractive young redhead with green eyes had a sweet low voice as he began to listen.
"…Waiting for a glimpse of the former FBI agent, Clarice Starling, who has recently been arrested for unclear charges having to do with the infamous Dr. Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter." She said. "We're hoping that we'll be able to ask her some questions before she's taken off to a new secure location where the FBI apparently hopes to keep her safe from the criminal she was once claimed to have aided in escaping first a secure location in Tennessee… and then the Chesapeake where one of her fellow FBI officers was mutilated and killed by the Doctor."
Hannibal only listened with half of an ear. The ramblings of the reporter didn't really interest him. The only thing she'd said of any interest was that soon Clarice would be walking out of the doors to the building just over her shoulder… and that he would catch his first glimpse of her in a very long time.
-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^- ^-^-^-
"Now don't say anything to them out there." Ardelia whispered to Clarice as the handcuffs binding her wrists behind her back were checked. Clarice had refused to place a coat over her head so that she could be spared being seen by the video cameras, and Ardelia feared she knew why. "They're vultures, Clarice, and I'm sure that no good will come out of speaking to them. It will only harm your situation further."
"Whatever you say, Agent Mapp." Clarice replied with snapping sarcasm. She was getting very good at behaving like the Good Doctor when she truly wanted to.
Agent Mapp took her arm above the elbow, and escorted her outside. Immediately, camera lights blinded them, and flashes of blue could be seen from the blackness beyond the bright white lights. There were over a dozen shouting voices, all yelling to Clarice at once. Ridiculous questions, most of them. For a while, it seemed they would make it through the crowd without circumstance… yet Clarice suddenly stopped walking, and turned to a particular camera. She smiled faintly, and said to the entire audience.
"I'm pregnant."
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^- ^-^-^-
The bottle of Nestea he'd been about to take a lingering sip from fell from Hannibal's fingers, and landed hard on the sickly colored carpet. He could hear the gurgle-gurgle-gurgle-blunk-gurgle as the liter bottle began to empty its' contents all over the floor, yet he wasn't paying any attention to it. His eyes were glued to the screen, where a thin and seemingly uneasy – but happy – Clarice was escorted hastily past the remaining reporters, and into a inconspicuous looking white fan with faded paint, scratches, and chips. The license plate was not shown by the cameras, and he knew that was the work of FBI agents telling the cameras ahead of time not to film it even by accident.
'Pregnant? My Clarice?' he wondered to himself, feeling his heart hammer inside his ribs. 'My Clarice is pregnant with our baby? It couldn't be anyone else's… of course. I know she hasn't been with anyone else in over a year. I've watched her closely enough.'
It seemed strange to him. More than strange. He was delighted, euphoric even. Yet it was strange. The Good Doctor Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter… a father? Very odd indeed. He finally smiled, and crouched down to straighten the fallen liter of iced tea, which had only a fourth of liquid left in it.
As he walked to a cabinet to pick up a roll of paper towels which he'd bought over the past few weeks, there was a sudden change to the building. Hannibal could feel the place shudder, and then there was a hum of electricity. In slight alarm, he lifted his eyes to the ceiling. Was someone in the building, turning the power on? Or was the power being turned on from an outer source? Had they found him, or had someone decided to buy and restore the place? He knew nothing of it being for sale. As he waited, the lights above him suddenly flickered a few times, then came on. Most of the bulbs in the ceiling had died, and one empty socket momentarily shot white and blue sparks, then relaxed.
'I think I have visitors.' He mused to himself. 'And they've found the fuse box.'
Reaching for the TV, he quickly pressed the off button, and then silently slipped out of the room. The fuse box was in the sub-levels of the building, where he was. Yet the place was big enough where he was certain he might sneak about and find out who his unwelcome callers were. Edging through each corridor, he listened for voices.
"Now… how the hell are we supposed to find a clean cell? Look at this place."
"We'll just have to work on it. Even if we aren't finished when they get here."
"We don't have much time, you know."
"Well he'll never think to look here. Ardelia told us to do a job, so we're doing it."
Two agents, he realized, leaning against a wall in silence. He even held his breath. His heart was still pounding at the news that Clarice was pregnant. Did they hear it? He didn't think so. He hoped not. Both of the agents now in his domain were male. Sneaking towards a corner, he peeked around it. The agents were too busy struggling with old keys in the jammed lock of an office door to notice him there. One of them was tall with rusty colored hair, and light blue eyes. The colorings made Hannibal think of himself just a little bit at a younger age. The other man was just a little bit taller than average height for a man his age. He had black, slightly curly hair, and deep green eyes. Hannibal immediately thought of an Irishman he'd once met in his travels. Neither of them was armed. He could tell by the way their suits fit the contours of their bodies. They were strapping younger men, so he wasn't surprised they made their clothes fit so well.
"Why the hell doesn't she bring the woman to a more secure location? There wont be anyone here to watch her, or watch out for Lecter."
That piqued his interest. Then he realized precisely what they were talking about.
Clarice… they were bringing Clarice to this place. How convenient!
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/- /-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
NA – any ideas? I need to get rid of these two without causing too much trouble. I'm sorry but I'm not very good at blood n' gore…well I am but I'd rather be discreet. Give me a bit of time to get the next chapter up.