Well, they still belong to T. Harris but I'm having great fun writing about them.

Thanks to all of you wonderful readers out there, specially those of you who took the time to comment. Thanks for you patience for this chapter that took me longer than usual to upload.

Chapter 16
Memories of Deeds Past

After lunch, while their host busied herself tidying up, Hannibal and Clarice excused themselves, and with Adam in the sling across Clarice's chest, they stepped outside and walked towards the Expedition, parked a short distance from the house.
Clarice leaned against the truck facing the house, while Hannibal stood facing her, his back to the house.

Hannibal knew she was furious, and tried to divert her attention towards the immediate task of resolving the situation.

"I guess I underestimated the scientific importance of Adam, and overestimated her loyalty. I'll take care of her, naturally, but before I do, let's discuss the detail, we don't want to leave any links that might associate us to her demise."

"But… wouldn't you rather make absolutely certain that she is guilty before we…well, do what has to be done?" Confronted with the reality of planning her demise in cold blood, Clarice dreaded the thought that they could be misjudging the woman's motives.

"I am certain, Clarice, but we will have no difficulty dispersing any doubts before we take final action. Let's go over the stratagem."
"Go ahead, I'm listening." Clarice said.

"Do you remember "multiple" Miggs? His voice was soft, very calm, and it reminded Clarice of his "…not any more…" long ago in the Dungeon.
She had been dreading the seemingly unavoidable violence that was to follow, and felt simultaneously relieved and flabbergasted by the way he continued to read her; and experienced a sudden, intense urge to touch him, to feel his warmth and his energy.

And again, Lecter sensed it and reached out for her, held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes and held her to the extent that was possible with Adam between them, inside the sling against her chest.

The Doctor talked for a few minutes, Clarice then asked some questions, which he answered. In turn, she offered some suggestions, and finally, once they made the final recap, he held her at arm length, and they smiled at one another, certain they had covered every angle.
Clarice reached out for him again, touching him gently as she loved to do. One of her great pleasures was to be able to touch him at will.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear and nuzzled her neck. She tilted her face to rub it against his, whispering rather hopefully
"We could say that we are tired from the drive and the baby's schedule feedings and want to take a nap…"

"We better keep an eye on her from now on, it will be just a few hours and then we'll be free to do as we please…" he chuckled, mocking his own words of yore…"all good things to those who wait."

"I'm sorry, that she turned out to be this way." She rubbed his arm softly.

"I don't care really, Clarice, except for the inconvenience. What matters is that we have each other and we have Adam, we'll be fine as long as can keep it that way."

"We cannot let Adam fall in their clutches, Hannibal, they'll turn him into a laboratory specimen. They'll…"

"Try to keep those thoughts at bay," he interrupted, "we need to keep a clear head for the work ahead."

"You are not going to make her swallow her tongue, are you?" She saw a spark of amusement in his eyes, "OK, how do you plan to make kill herself?"

"I thought you'd never ask" he grinned, clearly enjoying the opportunity to show off his cunning. "Either by a severe overdose of pills or by lethal injection, depending what I find in her medicine supply room."
"How do you know she has one?"

"I stopped here for a few hours on my way from the west coat. I wanted to pick up some medications just in case I would need them later for Adam. She sounded enthusiastic, to hear that there might be a clone, and that I would rescue him." He chuckled, "now we know why." There as a trace of bitterness in his voice.

"Anyway, she has a large, well supplied home pharmacy, one of the best I've seen. She brings supplies in from the Clinic and has a bit of everything."

"Where are we going next?

"Georgia, we have three more houses-in-waiting, before we finally leave the US, this is a very nice property, charming and very secluded. The goal is to end up in Miami, on our way to South America."

"Miami?" she laughed, "Florida is one the last places in the world where anyone would look for you!"

"Good choice, hmm?" he laughed, pulled her toward him and kissed her a little roughly, then when the pulled apart, he run his hand on her hair, looking at her all the while as if she was the beginning and the end of all things.

"We'll be fine, Clarice. This is just a mild inconvenience, and we can deal with it."

Before they reached the house, Clarice stopped, Hannibal noticed her face was set on that stubborn expression he knew so well; with her hair lose and no makeup, thinner since her weight loss, she looked like an overgrown child. Her whole look tugged at his heart in a way that he would have never thought possible, and he closed his eyes briefly to dispel his urgent need to hold her and magically make all things instantly better for her.

Instead, he grabbed hold of her hand; it felt cold and clammy and he rub it gently with his thumb, while he waited for her to speak.

"I really resent her for this. For the first time in my life, I feel is alright to take justice in our hands. How else would things like this one get settled?" She had tears in her eyes, and the Hannibal Lecter didn't feel any satisfaction by the implication in her statement, by her acknowledgement that she was coming around to his own way of thinking.

Instead, he felt an odd sadness for the loss of her remaining innocence, for her final disenchantment on human nature, and pulled her to him while he comforted her, talking to her gently until he felt she was well enough to go back inside and play her part in the charade that they had planned.

As soon as they were inside, Lecter told Dr Kratzen that they had agreed to leave Adam with her, until they were settled in the South of France, where he told they were going to start a new life.

"Good choice, that will gives me an excuse to go there, I always wanted to go back. I imagine how much you'll enjoy the easy access to all those wonderful fresh ingredients, and the wines…Who wouldn't want to live there!"

"Well Marian, now you'll have friends to visit there and a place to stay, you know you'll be welcomed to visit any time.
Before I forget, I would like to discuss a few items with you, so as to warrant both your safety and that of Adam, after we leave."

"Oh sure, you are the master escape artist, what do you have in mind?"

"First of all, you would be better off if you spend the next two month away from here, otherwise you'll find yourself having to explain Adam's presence endlessly, and someone might become suspicious. Just in case you forgot, babies do not grow in cabbage patch."

They all chuckled

"I could say that an emergency came up with my mother, who is in a nursing home in Baltimore and I'll be staying in a hotel nearby, then , instead, just go to the summer house in the Chesapeake, the one I had in the "old days", and spend the summer there with Adam, by the end of summer, he'd be old enough to travel. Is a good thing that the house is equipped with medical facilities, not much or up to date, but enough to treat him if he runs into trouble, and I also have a small lab there and will make sure to bring plenty of medical supplies, medications, vaccinations, you name it."

"I remember the house," said Hannibal, "I always wondered why did you kept equipment and a lab there."

She smiled and winked

"I like to do research, always did."

"OK the," said Hannibal, "why don't you take the opportunity to call whoever is you second in command at the clinic and advice him that you are going to be leaving tomorrow, and make arrangement with the staff, and the stable folks as well, so there will be less chances that they try to contact you and find you are not at your brother's."

"Good thinking," Dr Kratzen started walking to the phone but Hannibal interrupted before she began to dial.

"On a related subject, can I ransack your stash room I need some medicines for Clarice and some other odds and ends."

"By all means, help yourself"

He left the room while Clarice sat tiredly on the couch with Adams still on the sling.

Dr. Kratzen, began to make her calls, while Clarice listened to her side of the conversation which was all they cared, until it was clear that the beginning of their plan was accomplished. Nobody was going to miss Marian for some time.

When Hannibal returned, with a small bag full of goodies, Clarice announced that she was going up to change Adam and they will both take a nap.

"I'm exhausted," she said, "this feeding Adam every three hours around the clock has a way to wear you out, even if we take turns to do it.

I want to keep him close, in this last day." She announced seemingly dejected.

"You are leaving tomorrow, then?"

"That is the plan, and I hope we do because if we stay longer I might not bring myself to leave him."

Clarice went upstairs, changed the baby and proceeded to bag the used diaper, as well as the other two in the waste basket, then removed the lining of the basket and bagged that too. When she was satisfied that no traces of Adam's DNA could be recovered from the scene, she placed the sealed bag atop the bed beside her purse.

She was happy that they had never got around to unload the Expedition and their suitcases, as well as most of Adam's gear, was all still in the truck. One less thing to worry about.

She then quietly walked down the stairs and did what she could to remain out of sight.

She could hear Hannibal talking to Marian Kratzen, his voice soft and mesmerizing. The more she listened the more mollifying his tone, and the most hypnotic.

"If I stay here much longer I will be hypnotized too" she sniggered silently.

After an hour or so, when it was clear that the woman was completely under Lecter's control, Clarice moved further down the steps; she could see Hannibal, facing her, and Marion sitting on a soft chair her back to Clarice, responding weakly to Lecter's inquiries.

"OK, Marian, lets go to your study. You can write a short note there and then do as planned." He stood up and held his hand to his colleague. In contrast with his warm voice, the smile on his face was cold and chilling, totally devoid emotion, a smile Clarice was not familiar with. Not even when addressing Krendler during that fateful night at the Chesapeake had he displayed such cold remoteness.

"This was a personal betrayal." she thought

Kratzen seemed totally oblivious of Clarice's presence when she passed in front of her on the way to the study; when Hannibal looked at Clarice, his eyes turned suddenly warm when they met hers, and he winked.

She smiled back at him. Then turned around, and walked back upstairs.

Once in the bedroom, Clarice began to fold the few items of Adam that they had brought in the house, then put on a pair of rubber gloves that she removed from her hand bag, and began to wipe every possible surface they might have touched, and plenty of the ones they didn't but she decided to wipe just in case their fingerprints had miraculously jumped on the item. She went about it meticulously and with great care, while Adam slept peacefully in the infant/car seat.

She then picked up the car seat and moved to the bathroom where she whipped everything as well. After that, she made her way to her hallway and continued to work methodically, until she reached the main floor.

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Hope you enjoyed it, let me know

Clariz