Disclaimer: The characters of Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Starling, Jack Crawford, Clint Pearsall and Paul Krendler do not belong to me, but to Thomas Harris. No copyright infringement intended. I won't make any money of it. Just borrowing them for a while. Lecter' s blue eyes belong to Anthony Hopkins, though (I'm not sure there's a copyright on this).


Chapter 20: End of the game

Hannibal had arrived at the gym at six. He had parked the car about 30 ft from the entrance. From his position, he had a clear view on the building, but was far enough not to be noticed. He saw the first elements of what he identified as in plain clothes SWAT team progressively arrive on the site and take strategic positions. There were probably police officers and FBI agents as well. So, Clarice had made it. She had convinced them. He felt proud of her.

This feeling of pride, though, was mitigated by the fact he had not seen her. This worried him a bit. What had they done with her ? He hoped they were not inflicting her one of those endless interrogation that was the specialty of the FBI.

Hannibal was relieved when Clarice finally arrived at 7:30 pm. She was in company of a man, about forty years old, Hannibal estimated from his remote lookout post. The talked briefly and then entered the gym. She would have a ringside seat. Hannibal had secretly hoped they would keep her hidden in a place nearby. He smiled. He knew her too well to know she wouldn't have accepted that, even if they had offered.

Paul Ramsey arrived first. Followed five minutes later by Kowalski and Judith Valentine. Nothing happened for about ten minutes. Then he heard the gunshot and his heart froze. The sound of a fusillade resounded in the street. He saw the SWAT team rush inside.

Hannibal' s life was like suspended. He was sitting there, inside his car, not knowing if the only woman he ever loved was safe. The waiting was unbearable.

Why was it taking so long ? The noise of the fight had stopped for ten minutes now, but no one had come out of the building. He heard the sirens of an ambulance coming closer. The vehicle stopped right in front of the gym and two medics entered the building. Hannibal was agonizing. All he wanted to do was run inside and see her. Take her in his arms.

People started going out of the gym. But Clarice was nowhere to be seen.

Finally he saw her fine silhouette in the doorstep. She was alive and apparently safe. She was holding Valentine by the elbow and pushed her to one of the police car that had arrived. Hannibal took a deep breath. She was alive.

She was beautiful. She was concentrated on her task and moving with her usual efficiency. His little soldier ...

After about half an hour, the first police cars started to leave the scene. Clarice was in one of them. It was over.

Clarice would probably spend part of the night at the police station, with her fellow investigators. There was nothing more he could do now. The dices were cast. He could only wait ... and hope.


It was almost 5:00 am when Clarice turned back to Hannibal' s house. She opened the door slowly, assuming he was sleeping and not wanting to wake him up. She silently moved to the kitchen and helped herself a glass of water. As she was heading to the bedroom, she saw him sitting on the couch. "Hannibal ? What are you doing here alone in the dark ? You should be resting. You should not have waited for me. I told you it could take time."

As he did not answer, she came closer. He was pallid. "Hannibal ! What's wrong ? Are you in pain ?" He shook his head negatively. She kneeled before him and put her hands on his thighs. He bent his head. "Hannibal," she said, concern in her voice, "please, tell me. What's wrong ?" She put her hand on his chin and forced him to look at her.

" - I ... I did not know ..." he finally said. His voice was hoarse, as if speaking was an effort. She looked at him, puzzled.
" - You did not know what ? Tell me.
- I was not sure you would come back.
- Hannibal ... Why the hell did you ... Why ? Why wouldn't I have come back ? I promised you I would be cautious. You should know by now I always keep my promises.
- It's not that.
- Then what is it ?"

Clarice did not understand what he meant. She knew he was close to breaking down but had no idea on how to help him.

" - This is your life, Clarice" he started " The FBI. Tonight, you looked so comfortable with it.
- You were there ?
- I could not help it.
...
- Hannibal," She was looking at him straight in the eyes. Her voice was calm and resolute. " This is not my life. This was my life. Now, my life is you. I have no idea of what's gonna happen to me tomorrow or the day after. And I don't care. All I know is that I want to be with you."

He gently removed her hand from his cheeks and held it.

" - You know who I am, Clarice. You, better than anyone else in the world know who I am. I am a criminal. I am a fugitive ... I am Hannibal Lecter ... the cannibal as they call me. This is who I am.
- I know.
- No, you don't." He paused for a while. "I love you, Clarice. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone before, more than my life itself. But I am Hannibal Lecter. I cannot promise you I can dominate the violence I have in me. The only thing I am sure of is that I will never hurt you. But it would be vain to tell you I will change. I cannot change who I am. Nobody can.
- I did not ask you to.
- You did not ask me yet. But what in a month ? What in a year ? I will always be on the run, Clarice. Till the day I die.
- I can deal with that.
- I know you can ... But is this what you want ? There will be no turning back, Clarice"

She stared at him and took the time to really ask herself the question before answering. Hannibal' s eyes were piercing her, as if he was trying to read her very soul.

" This is what I want, my love." she finally said. " A part of you will always be Hannibal the cannibal, and a part of me will always be special agent Starling. But a part of you and me will become us ... This is what I want. No matter how far back I can search, I don't remember having wanted anything more than this."

With an unimaginable strength, he lifted her to him and kissed her passionately. Then he held her against him so close she felt his heart was beating in her chest. She passed her arms around his neck and locked her hands behind his head. Nobody could ever unlock this chain.


Later in the morning they decided they would go back to Washington, to Clarice' s apartment. No one would ever look for him there.

After a couple of days resting, Hannibal had almost fully recovered from his wound. He had profited of these days to make certain arrangements for their future. He had become a professional of being on the run. There were a number of places in the world where they could stay reasonably safe and he had enough hidden bank accounts for them to live the rest of their life without worrying.

Clarice had turned back to work and the FBI gurus were giving her a hard time. But she didn't care because she knew the whole game would be ending soon. When she came home at night, he was there. And nothing else mattered. She could not avoid feeling that as long as he would be there, nothing wrong could ever happen to her.

Hannibal was feeling happy. This was a feeling he had never experienced before and it was strangely pleasant to him. He did not fool himself. He knew the turmoil could come back any time. But for the moment, he was enjoying each and every minute of his life. He thought that in some ways, he was probably experiencing what a teenage boy was feeling the first time he discovered love. And come to think of it, that was not so far from reality.

On Wednesday morning, Clarice did not go to work. The FBI never heard of her again.


To be continued - well, you're almost there ... Thanks for reading. Reviews welcome.
Absolut