The Best Enemies in the World

by Sataï Nad

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please! This chapter is the translation of a complete story originally written in French and posted into the french Hannibal section a long time ago.

I'm still looking for someone who could checked my english translations. For the courageous ones, you will find the entire French story in its corresponding section. Hope you enjoy it ! And please don't forget : keep on reviewing…

Disclaimer : The characters are not mine. They belong to Thomas Harris. I just borrowed them. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 2: The Wait

Four weeks had gone by from this famous night.

Four weeks of harassment, inquiries, nightmares for Clarice Starling.

The F.B.I.'s attitude in this matter was reserved, if not to say, embarrassed. The investigation had revealed Mason Verger's manipulations and Paul Krendler's corruption. The testimony of Cordell, the personal physician of the billionaire, confirmed Starling's one. The disabled businessman had wanted to take his revenge on Doctor Lecter. Inspector Pazzi and the Sardes gangsters were paid for the capture of the monster in Italy ; Krendler was paid to produce false evidence against Starling in order to relieve her of her duties and to make her a bait to attract the famous killer.

The press picked up the story. From a torturer, Doctor Lecter became almost a victim who took his revenge ; Most of the newspapers draged Starling through the mud. Others said that she had been manipulated and mistaken. They pointed out the facts which had led to the meeting between Starling and Lecter seven years earlier and the strange relationship they had developped since. "Beauty and the Beast" reappeared. They spoke about the case with fascination and horror. They made fun of the Bureau and the Department of Justice. They denounced the corruption of certain civil servants. Newspapers run increased...

In spite of the dead men discovered at the farm, the Bureau was ready to make concessions. And for a good reason: Mason Verger's criminal intrigues upset the authorities. The case of Starling was however very delicate. Relieved of her duties, she had disobeyed a direct order from her superior, used a weapon not belonging to her and killed three men. She had helped a dangerous criminal. It was easy to charge her with the responsibility for Lecter's escape, even if she was incapacitate and unable to stop him.

Once again, Starling's behaviour was into consideration, not the facts. Once again, she had understood what was going to occur and had done it all alone. After the death of James "Buffalo Bill" Gumb, the board of inquiry had forgot all about the trainee's disobedience at Senator Martin's request. The public opinion with her, Starling was untouchable. Now the wolf which claimed her head for a long time were setting themselves against her and rubing their hands.

A counsel had been assigned for her defense. Starling tried to stand back from the legally manoeuvres behind the scenes because these considerations escaped her. She knew that her future in the F.B.I. depended on directors who would put politically-correct reasons forward rather than her states of service. Would she stay in? Would they request her to leave?

Her gesture had put herself a little more on the fringe inside her own department. She was known undesirable but rumors had been replaced with silence. Her colleagues did not talk to her anymore, avoiding her like the plague. Some were unaware of her, others diverted their eyes, uncomfortable. Starling had always been a recluse who appreciated to work solo. Now she was really alone in this hardship.

And Lecter's words and acts always returned to haunt her. Since that night doubt had been sown in her and had disturbed the fragile balance and the discipline Starling was so proud of. Her reason and her policy now encountered contradictory repressed feelings. Shame, culpability and rage were now her companions. For the first time of her life, she knew that she hadn't acted according to her conscience that evening. She had shamefully betrayed herself and she had painfully betrayed him, this serial killer who had always been honest with her, who knew and understood her better than herself, this human paradox who could have been the closest friend she'd never have...

Her system broke down like a house of cards. In the moments of fever, she hated Hannibal Lecter: He had awaked the screamings of the lambs. In the center of the storm, the limits between good and evil became fuzzy in her mind and she doubted everything. She, so sure of herself, so disciplined, called her principles into question. The examination of conscience was painful and alarming. In her despair, she heard the Doctor's voice with his particular tone, she saw his sardonic smile and his eyes watching her like a cat. Despite everything, she was hung on to him. No matter what she thought she systematically ran up against the truths he had stated. Because he was so damm right. Because since their first meeting, he was the gamemaster who was in control. Because in her deeper self, voices rose she couldn't shut up anymore...

In the moments of clearness, she dared to consider the reasons of Hannibal Lecter's behaviour. Love was a concept which did not exist in the Doctor's universe she repeated herself. And yet, despite the reasonable arguments, she knew intuitively that he had acted by love. He protected her, not hesitating to kill for her, crossed the Atlantic Ocean only to see her running in a park, was exposed to being captured and killed, took the risk to see her again whereas he knew that she should be the instrument of his own loss, proposed an unambiguous deal to her, sacrificed his left hand instead of cutting hers... and forgave her refusal and her treachery. Everytime as red-hot iron engraved, she remembered the absence of animosity and the compassion she read in his tired glance. How she would have preferred to see coldness or hatred in those eyes...

Starling tried to hold out. Another obsessing and much more insidious question went back over and over in her mind: what did she feel for him? Consciously, she couldn't like this monster. She tirelessly repeated these words but they didn't bring any comfort to her. She didn't forget who he was. However she was aware that the respect she had for him hid admiration and attraction. People will say we're in love. Seven years earlier, the doctor had pronounced these words to tease her and see her reaction. She had returned him an unscrutable face. But her heart had beaten faster under his scrutinizing stare. Had he felt it?

When he had kissed her, a part of her had screamed her repulsion. But deeply, another part had been delighted that she was at his mercy and that he prevented her from any freedom of movement. When he had touched her lips, she had not turned her head away. And she had not betrayed any emotion. In fact, she had let only one tear escape the moment she handcuffed him to her.

A tear of shame. The price of her treachery.

She still saw him holding up the cleaver and cuting down his wrist with a sinister slam. She had felt a huge pain as he suffered in silence. Hurting him this way had been insupportable. Always the lambs. But this time, it was of her own fault. In this moment, she hated herself, wishing that he had killed her. The feelings of shame and culpability had invaded her immediately. When their eyes had met, the doctor had read in her as in an open book and had returned her the same sorrow. Then, without a word, he had left.

Clarice Starling kept turning over all those thoughts, being unceasingly tortured. She was on the verge of rupture. In these moment she cursed Hannibal Lecter and made herself a promise: she will not rest until his capture. At other times, waiting and indifference pushed her to the limits of her resolutions and patience. She wanted to leave, forget the F.B.I, the criminals, the manipulations, to start a new life... She also knew that running away was not the answer. Lecter was a part of her and would leave her no respite until the day of her death. And evading from responsibilities was not her nature. She was a warrior according to the doctor's own words. She had to now learn how to accept her duality and her contradictions.

Clarice Starling lived the worst moment of her life with this feeling of insanity. Everything she had sacrificed escaped her. No matter how hard she tried she ran to the disaster. At this point she received a letter from Doctor Lecter.

… To be continued…