Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, except for the ones I've made up myself.
Family Blood
Chapter 10: Settling In
Clarice poured herself a cup of hot coffee from the coffee machine in the cafeteria of Quantico, always under the watchful eye of Ardelia Mapp. Clarice truly didn't like the look upon her old friend's face, one of distrust and disgust. Trying to break the ice, Clarice asked her, "You want a cup too 'Delia?"
Ardelia gave her a venomous look. "No," she simply answered.
Clarice couldn't take it anymore. "Look 'Delia," she faced her old roommate, a determined look on her face. "I'm sorry if I scared you when I went away, and I'm sorry if I hurt you. Trust me, I didn't mean to, I honestly didn't. But-"
"But what Clarice?" Ardelia finally snapped. "When you went missing I had to lead the investigation at Silversted's home. Do you have any idea what I went through when I found out that you were there? Do you have any idea how upset I was when I found out that Lecter was there too? I thought that he had killed and eaten you!"
"But he didn't," Clarice countered.
"Yeah, instead I find out that you had run away with him," she said, her voice dripping with disgust. "God Clarice, did you honestly think that I wouldn't feel even a little betrayed by that? If you were having problems you could have come to me or even give Crawford a called, but instead you turned to a cannibal!"
"'Delia," Clarice sighed, trying to think of something, anything, that could calm her friend down. "Listen, if I knew that you could have helped me then I would have turned to you, but I couldn't. No one except Dr. Lecter could help me. It's hard to explain, but trust me," she emphasized the next part, "if I didn't go to him for help, more than likely I would have shot myself long ago. Ardelia, I had to get away from here. It was destroying me and I was too stubborn to accept that fact. Plus," her voice softened significantly, "there was another reason for my decision of going with Dr. Lecter, one that I don't think that you'd understand right now."
Ardelia seemed to soften slightly, but just slightly. "And what would that other reason be Clarice?"
She hesitated, not sure of how Ardelia was going to react to this. "What can I say Ardelia, I love him."
Ardelia shook her head. "I can't believe you Clarice. It's bad enough that you ran off with him, now you tell me that you love him? Have you forgotten that he's a bloody cannibal?!"
Clarice looked down at her coffee and sighed. "Told you that you wouldn't understand," she muttered before looking back up at a livid Ardelia. "Listen, he's not as bad as you would think. Granted he did some really bad things, so have I. I'm not expecting you to change your opinion of him overnight, but I'm just asking for you to give him a chance. Ardelia, I really want us to be friends again, I've missed you a lot."
That seemed to soften up Ardelia some more. "God Starling," she looked up, as if the ceiling was going to give her the answer. "Why do you have to be so damn difficult all the time?"
Clarice forced herself not to cringe as Ardelia looked back at her with pained eyes. "'Delia," Clarice spoke to her softly, "I'm deeply sorry for any pain I've caused you, I never meant for you to get hurt. You're like a sister to me Ardelia. You don't know how hard it was for me to leave without at least saying good bye, let alone the possibility that I might not see you again. Please Ardelia, I truly want us to be best friends again. I promise that I will never hurt you again."
That nearly broke Ardelia. "I honestly want to believe you Clarice..."
"Then believe me," Clarice simply responded.
Ardelia looked at her old friend and broke. "Damn you C," she forced out a grin and a small chuckle, "I can't stay mad at you, I can never stay mad at you. And maybe you're right about the doctor, maybe I am a little too quick to judge him." A genuine smile finally cracked upon Ardelia's features. "Friends again?"
Clarice smiled right back. "Friends again," she repeated before drawing her best friend into a hug for the first time in almost a year.
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Meanwhile, Jadis flipped through the file cabinet and pulled out a case file and handed it to Matthew. They were still in the office and were trying to find everything that they'll need over these next few days. She was still trying her hardest to get used to the fact that she's an agent again, even if it is just temporarily. Matthew was also trying to get used to just being around Jadis and her father, since he already knew Clarice a little bit he was more at ease when around her.
He looked around only to realize that he and Jadis were alone in the room. "Where's Dr. Lecter and Clarice?" he asked her.
"He went to talk to Agent Parker for a second, he should be back soon," she responded. "Clarice went to get some coffee at the cafeteria." She grinned at him. "What? Do I make you nervous or something?"
Matthew shook his head almost immediately, "No, of course not... well, maybe a little... no offence."
Jadis laughed and responded, "None taken." Sitting down at the desk, her fingers moved smoothly over the keyboard as she typed in her login password. "Well, this brings back memories," she muttered more to herself than anyone. "I wonder if Pearsall has changed his email account since I've left..."
Matthew blinked. "Excuse me?"
Jadis grinned at him again. "When I was just beginning as an agent here I used to hack into the Quantico computer files a lot. One day Pearsall had pissed me off – that in itself is a long story – so to get some revenge I hacked into his email account and sent everyone in Quantico an email under his name that said stuff like, 'to save money we're going to have to trade in our high-quality digital cameras for those big clunky black and white ones from the sixties' and other crap like that. The amazing thing was, some people actually took it seriously and went to complain to Pearsall about it." Jadis chuckled at the memory. "Good times, good times. He never found out that it was me, so I never got any trouble from it. One of my most fond memories of this place by far."
Matthew found himself sharing a light laugh from Jadis' story. "I wonder if he knows now," he said.
Jadis rolled her eyes and grinned, "Knowing Pearsall, I highly doubt it."
That caused them to share another small laugh for a few seconds. Matthew was finding himself at more and more ease with Jadis. "You know," he found himself saying, "You're not as bad as one may think you are, considering that you're a fugitive and a daughter of a cannibal. Again, no offence!"
Jadis smiled at him again, "And again, none taken. I'm glad that you think that. You're not that bad yourself, considering that you're the little brother of Paul Krendler. Oh, and I guess I should apologize if I had made you a little uncomfortable yesterday in the dungeon. I promise that I won't try anything like that again." Seeing the relieved sigh that Matthew emitted, Jadis was quick to add, "My father on the other hand..." she couldn't help but laugh at the look Matthew gave her.
Despite this, Matthew began laughing with her. 'Yeah', he thought to himself, 'She's not that bad at all...'
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Elaine kept a careful eye on Dr. Lecter ever since he stepped into her office a couple seconds ago. Behind him Vermont and Lawrence kept their guard and their respectful distance. Standing up and coming around the desk to face him, Elaine tried her best not to cringe at the feeling of his haunting eyes on her.
"Anything I could help you with Doctor?" she asked in what she hoped was a professional tone.
"There is actually," he responded, "My companions and I were wondering a few things about this case. One of which is why did you come to us for help exactly?"
Elaine had to take a few seconds to piece her response just right. "Dr. Lecter, we've been working on this case for months now and we have gotten nowhere. You guys had tracked him down once before. We're hoping that with your help we'll be able to track him down once and for all. We've already wasted all the traditional ways of locating wanted criminals, now we're at our end."
Dr. Lecter tilted his head. "What had made tracking down Richard Silversted so hard? Surely the FBI must have gotten something."
Elaine shook her head. "Only enough to confirm that it's him. Other than that, it's like he just disappears at will. No one even knows what he looks like now." Elaine sighed before continuing. "He had killed again last night, this time it was a student here at Quantico. It's a long shot, but I think that he's trying to send you guys a message of sorts. Why else would he go after a Quantico student?"
As she said this Elaine handed Dr. Lecter a few photos of the victim. "We've already sent down the victim's file to the office," she informed him.
She repressed a shudder as he looked back up at her. "One last thing, Agent Parker, myself and my companions still remain highly skeptical of the FBI's promise to let us go after this is all over. We just wanted you to know if you have lied to us you'll be the one that gets the punishment, since this is your idea. Think you can remember that Agent Parker?"
Elaine swallowed at the cold look that had entered the doctor's eyes. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind," she responded.
Dr. Lecter nodded. "Very well, good day to you Agent Parker." With that, he walked out of the office with the two guards following behind him.
Elaine sat back down at her desk, an uneasy feeling that wouldn't go away still lingering in her. 'I think he knows,' she briefly thought, remembering that hard look in those telltale maroon eyes just seconds before. Trying to shake the thought from her head, she sipped at her cup of coffee and checked her emails. At the back of her mind however, Dr. Lecter's words still haunted her.