Disclaimer: I do not own Clarice or Hannibal. Thomas Harris can keep them as I like me the way I am, all in one piece.

TERRY-cRaZy ItALian: Sorry about my italian, my mother thought she knew better and fixed my spelling. I spelled it right the first time. lol, oh well on with the show.

Moonlit Hunt: thanks for that, your right. I have to bend him a bit for a romance.

Count Orlok: :stares at him strangely: What are you talking about! What does Chilton have to do with this?

lilegyptiangoddess: I'm glad to accompany your Hannibal viewing.

Csferosha: We'll find out who is was that shot at Clarice in the next chapter, as for the gory details you may want to depend on your own morbid imagination for that. : grins:

Angelia: Thanks, hope you like this, not that much talking I'm afraid. Next chapter will have enough talking to make up for it though.

Author's Note: This will be a bit sweeter and only have a few pot shots from either one of our lovely couple. I don't know how long i'll be able to control Hannibal's sharp tongue though. ( Ooh no pun intended for those of you with dirty minds.) Hope you all enjoy.


Clarice felt a tingling sensation running down her spine, the feeling was slowly bringing her back to consciousness. Beside the rather pleasing feeling she had woken up to, the moment her body was fully aware the burning pain in her lower back returned. Now the pain had also spread to her abdomen.

She bit down on the pillow beneath her and mumbled a few loud obscenities through her teeth. When the tingling went away, she realized it had been a hand stroking her back. Her objections doubled by the lack of that welcoming warmth.

There was a moment of silence. Then Clarice's eyes shot open when lips replaced the hand just above the gun shot wound. A yelp of suprise escaped her lips and she felt Hannibal smile against her skin.

" Hush Clarice, moving will only break the stitches." He said, teasing her skin again with his mouth before pulling away. A million foul words popped into Clarice's head but she held them in, he might not find them so amusing at the moment.

She could hear him doing something, but didn't want to risk the pain again to see what it was. "Now this is going to hurt, so bite the pillow if you have to Clarice." Hannibal said calmly. Before Clarice could prepare herself he slipped a needle into her back, right below the wound. Once the serum got into her blood stream Clarice latched her teeth on the downy fabric beneath her face and held back a scream. It wasn't morphine, that she was sure of. Whatever it was burned like hell.

A tear managed to escape from the corner of her eye no matter how hard she tried to stop it. She gritted her teeth when he slipped the needle back out. The pain started to fade but not fast enough for any real relief.

Hannibal stroked her hair in an attempt to soothe the pain away. It wasn't working but it was a nice distraction. Clarice knew that this rare physical affection was Hannibal's way of apologizing for the extra pain he was inflicting. At Krendler's she'd had enough morphine in her system that the pain was only a memory even during Hannibal's rushed surgery on her shoulder. Now the pain was all too real and there was not much he could do for it.

: For the first time in my life I hope someone died.:

Clarice wished the thought would go away but it wouldn't. She knew deep down that someone had. Hannibal Lector was not going to leave someone alive who had attempted to kill either of them. Sensing where the wound was Clarice guessed the marksman had either bad aim or he wasn't trying to kill her, only disable.

" It doesn't count." The sound of Clarice's voice told her she hadn't used it in at least a day. She must of lost a lot of blood to be out that long. " Who ever you killed last night doesn't count." She repeated.

" I know."

Clarice should have been afraid of the casualness of his words, but for all their history together she had expected those exact words and nothing else. Cold and collected.

But Clarice had witnessed something that was not in Hannibal's usual manner. Fear. Never in their whole time together had she seen him express fear so openly, especially not for her safety. He had always been in control of the situation when she was concerned. Last night he had not been in control of the situation and Clarice didn't know what scared him more. That he hadn't planned on something like this happening or that he nearly lost her.

Suddenly Clarice wanted to know what Hannibal had done to the shooter, it was morbid to ask but she thought knowing would give her some insight as to what had scared him the most.

" Dr. Lector, what did you do to the shooter? How did you kill him?" Clarice realized that she sounded very much like a child asking her father why they had to shoot the dog.

She couldn't turn around to see his face which was frustrating as she had always faced Hannibal when they spoke. She felt his breathe on her neck when he spoke in her ear.

" Even a fallen angel like you shouldn't know the grisly details of that mans death." The smile in his voice made Clarice shiver. His words were enough proof to her what he'd feared the most that night. Her life. It was a wonder that the thought relaxed her, no doubt with help from the drugs Hannibal had given her.

As reality started to slip away again, this time a drug induced sleep, Clarice desperately tried to hold on to consciousness enough to turn over. She managed to lay on her side and look up at Hannibal, whatever emotion she could make out was shadowed by the lack of light in the room and her own hazy eyesight. He gently made her lay back down on her stomach.

" Sleep now Clarice." His voice seemed to echo in her head. " We still have much to talk about when your fully recovered."

With his firm encouragment Clarice slipped back into sleep with the warmth of his hand on the back of her head.

Author's Note: I know it's really short, but I had to get this out of the way for a bigger scene. Sorry to all of you reading this, there will be more soon. Just give me a little bit to finish the next chapter.