This is what happens when nobody else writes anything for me to read. I'm left to my own devices.

Add the usual: not mine, never said they were anyway.

__________

Clarice carried on an inner monologue as she checked her gun and thumbed off the safety.

OK Clare, just be calm. Calm, yah right!

I'm in a house owned by a cannibalistic serial killer, who may or may not be in residence. And he may or may not want to kill me. Wonderful!

She began to search the house, room by room, closing doors as she went.

OK, he obviously woke up; so much for the theory that his body would need sleep to recuperate. What would he have done then? He knows I was here, but he doesn't know that I've called a temporary truce. He'd want to get out of here as soon as possible.

The logical side of her mind shuddered at the thought of the doctor back out in the miserable weather. She herself was soaking wet from the inclement conditions outside. The illogical side of her mind was screaming MONSTER! at every shadow she came upon.

He's gonna get you…He's waiting 'til he can sneak up behind you and then he's gonna get you!

He is not "gonna get me"!

Oh, yes he is. He's gonna…

Oh shut up!

She had checked every room on the ground floor and came upon the door to the basement.

If he's hiding down there he's gonna have to come up and get me, cuz I'm not going down!

I told you! He's gonna…

For God's Sake, Shut UP!

She was mentally screaming at herself as she ascended the stairs to the upper story, gun held low but at the ready. She wasn't sure what to expect if she actually found him. He hadn't seemed overjoyed to see her the last time he woke up.

There's the understatement of the year, girl. He only tried to strangle you without even saying hello.

She snorted at her grisly sense of humor. She wondered when she'd crossed the line from simply sarcastic to just plain morbid. Further musings were swept from her mind as her line of sight crested the top of the stairs and she spotted something green lying in a large pile in the middle of the hall. It looked like one of the blankets she had taken downstairs.

She raised her gun and pointed it at the blanket.

If the boys back at Quantico could see me now, they'd be laughing their asses off.

She shook the thought aside and moved slowly towards the lump of fabric. She let out a soft sigh when she spotted the back of a graying head and one bare arm splayed on the floor. She wasn't sure if she was relieved, or afraid to find him still in the house. She toed him with the edge of her boot and when that elicited no response, she put her gun back in its holster at her hip.

He was lying sprawled face down on the floor. He had obviously been trying to get somewhere when he collapsed again. She looked up and saw that he had passed every door on the second floor, but the one straight in front of them.

Let's use our deductive skills now class.

She walked past the doctor and opened the door. The room beyond was a large bedroom – probably the largest. It contained a king size, four-poster bed that matched the mahogany of the desk, dresser, nightstands and wardrobe.

Ok, he was headed for his bedroom…

She glanced back at the lump in the hall. Bed was probably a better place for him anyway, now that his fever had broken. The bed was a mess from when she'd torn the blankets off, but she quickly found clean sheets in the closet beside the bathroom. After she'd changed his sheets, she walked back into the hall, trying to figure out how the heck she was going to get him into bed. She started to laugh,

That's right Clare – you want to get Hannibal Lecter MD into bed – try not to think about that too hard. Maybe listening to Ardelia's war stories for all those years will finally pay off. Clarice! BAD GIRL!! Just because he's unconscious now, doesn't mean he's going to be glad to see you when he wakes up. Most likely he's going to be in a very bad mood. In fact, it would probably be best if you weren't anywhere in the general vicinity when he does wake up.

These thoughts sobered Clarice from her laughing fit. She paused to stare at his chest as she rolled him over onto his back. She snatched her hand back just short of touching him.

I wonder if he looked at me when I was unconscious. I wonder what he thought if he did.

Clare, STOP IT! This isn't getting either of you anywhere fast.

She grabbed the top corners of the quilt and pulled hard. The quilt actually slid quite easily over the hardwood floors. She had him next to the bed in no time. Getting him up onto the mattress from the floor wasn't as easy. She was glad she'd continued to go to the gym as she wrapped her arms around his chest from behind and hoisted his torso up onto the bed. She tangled her fingers in the thatch of silvering hair on his chest as she sat on the edge of the bed with his unconscious form in her arms.

Clare!!! What would you say if he woke up right now?

That thought was enough for her to quickly but gently ease him back onto the bed and finish hoisting his legs up. She decided that the doctor, with only his boxer shorts on, was just too much of a distraction and that she should get him into some pajamas if she was going to have any piece of mind. She found a pair of blue silk pajamas in a drawer in the dresser and proceeded to struggle him into them, biting her lip the whole time. The colour reminded her of his eyes. When she finally had the last button on the shirt buttoned she covered him with the sheet and then picked the quilt up off the floor and spread it over him and the rest of the bed.

She took a step back and congratulated herself on a job well done. She was turning into quite the little nurse. She was about to go in search of food to appease her growling stomach when an errant thought stopped her dead in her tracks.

What if he wakes up again?

She spun back to stare at the doctor. She couldn't just leave him to his own devices up here by himself. She bit her lip as she fingered the handcuffs clipped to the back of her belt. She would be gone by the time he woke up anyway, so he would never know the difference and it would give her some piece of mind in the mean time.

Decision made, she quietly clicked the cuffs around the doctor's right wrist and the bedpost closest to his head. She moved quietly out into the hall and pulled the door to.

____________

Dr. Lecter awoke feeling much better. He inhaled deeply and could have sworn he smelled Clarice in the room.

Impossible!

He also thought he detected the faint scent of minestrone soup.

Strange…

The doctor stretched his shoulders, imitating a large jungle cat. The clink of a chain caught his instant attention and his gaze came to rest on silver handcuffs chaining him to the bed.

What the hell?! Cl-ar-ice…

____________

Oh, I like this one now I think. Luna.