The characters belong to Thomas Harris, I own nothing. There is no profit involved.

I want to thanks all those who read this little fiction and took the time to comment and motivated me with their words to go on with part two

Finishing the Arch- Part II

The arrangements for Clarice's visit had been hastily done as soon as they got the OK from Director Tunberry. The doctor was scheduled to be executed the next day, and the arrangements involved some effort on the part of Pearsell and Noonan because they had to comply with the terms of the agreement of Starling's resignation.

She had firmly insisted that she wanted to be admitted inside Dr. Lecter's cell, and that he would remain unrestrained during her visit. This last part of her request was unprecedented and had taken Noonan some extra insistence to convince the warden that Lecter was not likely to hurt Clarice Starling. Finally she agreed to sign a release assuming full responsibility for her safety.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Walking down the long corridor that lead to Dr. Lecter's cell, reminded Clarice of the walk in the dungeon at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, and she wished she could roll back time, and have an opportunity to start over.

When they got to his cell, the guard let her in.

Dr. Hannibal Lecter looked crisp and relaxed; wearing one of his own gray wool trousers and a fine blue shirt, delivered by his attorney the night before, his hair impeccably combed and smelling of his familiar aftershave.

The doctor had been waiting for her. "Good morning, Clarice" he said as someone answering the door.

"Good morning" she whispered softly, a little uncertain as how to proceed.

"Please come in" he invited, his tone soft and collected as that of a perfect host

"Here, let me take your coat, please" he helped her remove her coat, folded it carefully, and wrapped it on the back of the single chair on the cell.

"I apologize for not offering you more comfortable arrangements, Clarice" he took her hands and looked deep into her eyes, now welled with tears.

"Tell me now, Clarice, why have you risked everything to come and spend this last hours with me." His demeanor was calm and composed, a hint of tenderness in his tone.

Her voice, when she found it, was just above a whisper, "I resigned from the Bureau last night." She didn't pause long enough for him to comment and went on with a stronger voice thick with guilt and regret.

"For years I tried first to ignore and then to repress my feeling for you, Dr. Lecter, and look where it got us. I am so sorry…" Two tears run down her cheek and he gently whipped them with one finger and lingered over the courage mark on her left cheek. She lowered her eyes then, and whispered almost inaudibly, "I'm in love with you, that's why I'm here."

He took a deep breath, and slowly let the air out, as if a heavy weight had been lifted, and his soul set free from some invisible bonds that held it captive.

Tentatively, he wrapped his arms around her, and with infinite serenity, whispered

"Your words just now, and your coming here, Clarice, is all I ever whished for." the joy was evident on his smile and the gleam in his eyes.

She snuggled against him, and they were both quiet for a few moments. Enjoying the close contact that they had both craved for so long.

He then looked around and led her to his cot, the only place in the cell where they could both sit.

Clarice leaned toward him, spontaneously using his given name for the first time.

"Why did you come back, Hannibal? After the Chesapeake you had gotten away clear. To their embarrassment, the FBI didn't have a clue as to your whereabouts. You were safe. Why did you come back?" there was a hint of frustrated agitation in her voice. "You were safe!"

"I spend seven safe years in Florence, Clarice, and I much rather have one gleaming moment with you, such as this one, than a safe lifetime of nothing without you."

He sighed, "safe without you is my idea of hell."

Clarice began to cry and he held her, but she was unresponsive to his efforts to sooth her. Unreasonably, between sobs, she mumbled "I don't want you to die, I don't want you to leave me …ever"
Hannibal Lecter kissed her wet check, shook his head slowly; then lifted her chin with two fingers and looked deep into her eyes. "I spent more than eight years inside your head, Clarice. I don't intent to leave now," he chuckled, "I'll stay there as long as you live. I'll always be with you. That's a promise."

She sobbed and shuddered, and he held her closer, smoothing her hair with one hand, until she stopped crying.

When her sobbing subsided completely, he rapidly switched to a lighter mood.

"Hey, Clarice, I have a surprise for you. With the help of Mr. Jenkins here we are going to have a formal date, you and I. Right here in the cell. "

"Mr Jenkins," he called in a louder voice. The guard approached.

"What is it Doctor?"

"Mr. Jenkins, did you manage to arrange everything as we planned when we found we were having a guest?"

"Yes, indeed Doctor, the kitchen has your recipes and with the funds provided by your lawyer we managed to secure all the ingredients and two bottles of Chateau Y'quem, for the occasion."

"Thank you Mr. Jenkins, that was most kind, we will be fine with one bottle here. The second bottle is for you to take home to the wife, for a special occasion."

"There you go, Clarice," he said turning back to her, as graceful as a dancer "Didn't I promise you once that if you joined me in my cell we would have some fun?" Hannibal smiled and winked.

As he expected, his attitude relaxed her, and she managed to reward him with a wide smile.

A few minutes later, the guard came back with a second chair and announced proudly. "The kitchen says is a go, lets say in an hour, Doctor . That will leave plenty of time for the movie and the rest of the day as you requested."

"Very kind of you Mr. Jenkins, I really appreciate your help."

"See Clarice, our first real date." He announced proudly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A few minutes after they finished their meal, the guard approached the cell, again

"Sorry to interrupt, folks, but this concerns you both." He turned on the TV mounted on a bracket on the hallway facing the cell. "You might want to see what is going on outside," he said urgently.

A mob of press trucks, cameras, lights and reporters were parked outside the prison, and a great commotion was in progress.

…Clarice Starling the FBI's Angel of Death whose name has been associated to that of Dr. Hannibal the cannibal Lecter, since she received information from him that resulted on the demise, at her hands, of serial killer Jame Gumb; resigned from the Bureau late yesterday, and has presently joined the infamous doctor in his death row cell, where she allegedly plans to stay with him until his execution later tonight…This late development seems to finally confirm the rumors of a romantic connection between the two.

An alarming mass of demonstrators has gathered outside the prison demanding that she be tried as an accomplice for his crimes. The FBI has declined to make any comments; as Ms Starling is no longer their employee.

Clarice smiled. "Why am I not surprised? They leaked the information to the press to detract attention from themselves." She turned to the Doctor.

"Let them think what they want…in fact they are right on target. There has been a romantic connection between us from the beginning, I wish I had admitted it years ago."

He was standing, looking at her immobilized. "Was your resignation their conditions for this visit, Clarice?" his outrage evident as he annunciated the words very slowly, reminding Clarice of his "what does he do, this man you seek?" of years ago.

She smiled at him and nodded, "Yeap!" chuckling now, "my resignation in exchange for visiting privileges with you here." She shrugged, "no big deal, really, I couldn't stay in the job any longer, but used the resignation for leverage."

It was a big deal, and he knew it, the Bureau had been her life.

Hannibal Lecter walked to the cot, reached under his pillow, and pulled out a sealed envelope. "I prepared this for you, Clarice. Here are the locations, account numbers, and passwords to access all my Swiss bank accounts. You will find there is more than enough there to live comfortably for the rest of your life."

She felt a big lump on her throat. Unable to speak, Clarice silently placed the envelope in her purse.

"I willed my remaining possessions such as my clothes and books to Barney, confidentially instructing that he relinquish to you, privately, any item of your choice. He is going to have the time of his life selling Lecter memorabilia on E-bay. I expect they'd be rather valuable, specially after I'm death." He chuckled

Clarice tried to chuckle with him but began to cry instead, the sobbing wracking her whole body as the certainty of his execution became more and more of a reality. Hannibal pulled her towards him gently, and held her against his chest firmly to stop her shaking, hushing, and softly kissing her.

She threw her arms around his neck and held on to him. Slowly, the crying subsided again. She smiled at him amid her tears, "what does one say to a man about to be executed?"

"What do you think I'd like to hear the most?" he whispered.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

At Hannibal's suggestion, the guard called the warden who, in turn attempted to call Ardelia and ask her to come and get Clarice across mob outside, but Ardelia couldn't be reached. The warden's car was parked inside the prison on his regular spot by his office, and he offered to drive her to her car before the execution, which he had to attend.

When the time came, he escorted Clarice to his car, drove her to the parking lot outside the prison walls, and parked his car parallel to hers. She got off his car and into hers before the mob realized she had left the prison.

The drive back to the duplex was in a fog of despair, regret, and grief. She knew the Doctor had refused to ask for a stay, and as the time of his execution approached, her sorrow progressively increased.

When the time came, she turned off the car radio for fear to hear the announcement that he was dead. She couldn't go on driving, parked the car on the shoulder of the road, and started to cry.

"Gone, Hannibal," she whispered between sobs, "this time you're gone forever."

"I'm not gone, Clarice," whispered the ever present voice in her head, "I'm right here as I've always been, you can count on that ."

His words, just when she needed them most, had a magic soothing effect on her. Slowly she composed herself, in a hurry now to get to get home and go to sleep as she promised him.

When she arrived to the duplex, the press was waiting for her arrival with cameras and light, along with a mass of angry onlookers screaming obscenities and carrying posters full of innuendo and death treats.

She couldn't park her car on her block due to the crowd, and had to drive around looking for a parking spot. Finally, she found one about a block and a half away, on a metered zone; parked the car and dug in her purse for coins for the parking meter. Once she had the four coins in her hand, she realized she wouldn't need them due to the later hour. With the coins still clenched in one hand, she dried her eyes and got off the car, ready to face the angry crowd.

She never got a chance. The sniper in the mob fired, and his bullets hit her twice on the chest, the impact, strong enough to knock her against the car and on to the floor. She thought of Evelda Drumgo, and pictured her leaning dead against the car…Before she died; Clarice felt Dr. Lecter's presence and heard voice, murmuring, "we finished the arch, Clarice."

Then she went blank

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Clarice woke in what appeared to be the first class section of an airplane; Hannibal was sitting beside her, leaning against the window so he could watch her; an open book resting on his lap . When she opened her eyes, he rapidly shifter his position and leaned over her,

"Welcome back, Clarice" he murmured looking at her with a radiant and peaceful expression.

She didn't need to ask to know they were both dead, but wanted to hear it from him anyway. Most of her memory seemed intact but some of the sequences seemed a little confusing.

"Where are we Hannibal," she felt compelled to whisper, though, there seem to be no other passengers. "We are dead, right?

His smile widened, his joy so contagious she giggled and felt silly she had asked.

Maneuvering within the confinement of the seats, he placed one arm around her shoulders, turning while using his other hand to reach for hers,

"We are in an airplane, in heaven on our way to Paradise." He winked his magic wink, and went on.

"Dead? Yes." he confirmed, "but I never felt more alive." his eyes were bright, twinkling impishly.

He let go of her hand, pulled her towards him, and kissed her enthusiastically. She managed to wrap her arms around his neck and responded with matching intensity.

"I love you, Hannibal Lecter." She whispered with intensity she didn't know she possessed.

"I've always loved you, Clarice, almost from the start," he chuckled, "But you sure made me go thru hell to get you."They both laughed, their laugh blithe and free.

"Do we get to be together forever now?" She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"That's Paradise for me." He answered firmly.

Clarice sighed, "and me," she confirmed softly. Then with a playful look she asked,

"What do we get to do for Eternity, Hannibal?" her tone was flirty, and Hannibal Lecter loved the sound of it.

He pulled her to him, looked straight at her with a meaningful grin and, enunciating every word very slow, announced triumphantly,

"Anything we want!"

FIN

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Please let me know if you enjoyed this fiction. Is not as if I'm going to go on and write about their adventures in Paradise, but comments are always a good motivation to go on and think of new scenarios.

Thanks for reading

Clariz