Disclaimer: I do not own Clarice or Hannibal. I found them in an alley and they followed me home. So there! No really, they don't belong to me and are the rightful property of Thomas Harris and in spirit Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore.
Count Orlok: : Hannibal comes to bite Phantom Ange's throat and she just smiles.: Dr. Lecter, i'd like you to meet my friend Lestat de Lioncourt. : The vampire smiles charmingly at the cannibal.: If you go kill Robert then Lestat will make Clarice into a vampire and you can both live together forever. : Hannibal smiles and turns on Robert and begins to chase him again.: That will show you to sick Lecter on me, i'm the writer!
burninghearts: First there was the finger scene from 'Silence of the Lambs', then there was the fridge scene from 'Hannibal'. Now there's the abdomen scene from 'If You Loved Me'. I have now joined the ranks of unusual body part scenes. : grins.:
AerdnaMilos: Behind the Mask is not a Robert Englund film, I wouldn't watch it if it was. The film is also supposed to be called Lecter Variations, but it could change before it is officially released.
Lt. Pickles: That really sucks, I wanted Tony to be in the film so badly. That's not going to stop us from writing to the director anyway.
pol: We're about to throw conventional out the window.
Author's Warning: Okay guys, we've seen Clarice's past, we've seen the inner Clarice (mentally). Now we're going to see the dream life that she envisions with Dr. Lecter. Due to this strange scene you'll see characters EXTREMELY OUT OF CHARACTER. Remember the dream is Clarice's version of an ideal life, not the truth.
"Where is the house Clarice?"
Clarice heard Hannibal's question but she ignored him to watch what was played out in her head. She was so immersed in the dream that it felt like she was physically there, the bedroom became the illusion instead of the truth.
The morning sun was still helping her wake while she stretched on the terrance. Hannibal had made sure Clarice had anything she wanted. So he was amused when the only things she asked for was singing and ballet lessons. She took the dancing lessons because of a compliment he gave her one night while they were dancing at a party.
Once she was loose enough she waited for something that happened every morning. Amidst the silence of the house came the first soft notes of a song being played by heart on the piano. Clarice smiled and gracefully brought her arms above her head but not in a traditional ballet pose. Her entire body moved fluidly with her arms, like a tidal wave that powered her arms to move. Clarice closed her eyes and let the music take over her body, Hannibal had shown her how to let go of herself this way years ago. He said that she had her own way of dancing. Both exotic and delicate in a way that it captured everyone's attention.
It was their morning ritual, he would play the piano and she would dance. They greeted every morning the same way, like the pagans of old thanking the sun god for his presence at dawn.
: You think like him now Starling: The voice cooed in her head like a child. Clarice smirked. : And what's wrong with that: Like every time the question was posed there was only silence. She was free here with Hannibal, there wasn't any responsibility to her dead parents except that she lived on and cherished them in memory. Freedom had been sweet in the years that Hannibal had released her from the life that had become her own prison, and that freedom was hers for eternity. Clarice and Hannibal made sure that every day of that freedom was celebrated together.
Suddenly Clarice faltered in step when the soft melody Hannibal had been playing changed drastically. Her foot landed out of rhythm and Clarice opened her eyes to look back into the house where the piano was.
Hannibal Lecter sat at the piano bench, the piano in front of him. The instrument was set so he could watch her dance while he played. At the moment he sat behind the piano with his chin resting casually in the palm of his hand and seemed to be critiquing something. The music played on without him, it wasn't his brand of music to begin with. She realized it was a Tori Amos song called 'Happy Phantom'. Clarice smiled and looked below the piano to see Hannibal's feet planted firmly on the marble floor. Next to his legs were a pair of tiny bare feet that couldn't even touch the floor from the bench that swung back and forth with the music.
"Jess!"
The music stopped and a little brunette head popped up above the piano. The bright ruby eyes twinkled when they rested on Clarice, the little girl giggled.
" Morning mommy!" She said brightly and jumped off the bench. Clarice laughed and bent down to gather up the eight year old in her arms. "And just what are you doing up this early munchkin?" Clarice asked with a laugh, her voice regaining the Virginian timber that she had carefully eradicated from her voice over the years. But when speaking to her little girl Clarice couldn't stop the accent from slipping back in.
Jessica Lecter, or as her parents nicknamed her Jess frowned at her mother. " I just wanted to see you dance, daddy said it was all right." She said as if she were in trouble, her pout was falser then Hannibal and Clarice's current identities.
" Hey kiddo. What did I say about keeping a secret?" Hannibal asked Jess with a raised eyebrow. A look that used to send scholars running only succeeded in making his own daughter giggle. " It wasn't really a secret daddy." She protested with a smile.
Hannibal grinned. " Touché."
Clarice watched as Hannibal came to stand with them on the terrance. His walk still matched that of a prowling cat, around his family it was more relaxed. But any hint of a threat to Clarice or Jess would bring the distinct awareness out in his step. A panther seeing a kill. Now Hannibal gave her a knowing look as she reflected on the traits he never lost, only concealed.
Hannibal kissed Clarice and she smiled against his lips. She was happy here. It had been years in the making but they finally had what they wanted. He pulled away and took Jess from her arms.
" Would you help me with breakfast Jessica?" He asked and Jess made a face, sticking her tongue out like she'd just tasting something nasty. " Only if mommy cooks." She said. " Oh, and why is that?" Hannibal asked curiously. " I don't like the things you make daddy, they taste yucky." Jess said indignantly.
Hannibal Lecter looked at his daughter with a mixture of shock and insult. Clarice laughed and took the little girl from his arms. " I think we'll just have pancakes this morning." She told Jess and smiled at Hannibal. " You can't give an eight year old Eggs Benedict for breakfast, she's not going to eat it."
" Mickey Mouse pancakes! Mickey Mouse pancakes!" Jess chanted. Clarice nodded. "Home made Mickey Mouse pancakes it is." Hannibal simply raised his eyebrow again at his daughter and wife. " The child won't eat eggs but she'll eat a mouse head made of bisquick. One of these days your mother is going to poison me with her version of cooking." Hannibal said calmly, directing the last part at Jess. She laughed. Clarice made an indignant sound and Hannibal chuckled. " Speechless Agent Starling?"
While the scene of a family in the midst of harmless bickering played out in Clarice Starling's mind she knew that it couldn't come true. But she wanted to linger for a while longer like a specter watching over the ones they loved had to leave behind.
Hannibal allowed a small smile to grace his lips as he listened to Clarice describe the life she had dreamed of. Many would think that her imagined future was ridiculous. And even though some things were a bit over exaggerated, Hannibal Lecter found nothing in her dream impossible.
Hannibal filed the dream away in his memory palace. The visions were placed in two separate rooms there. One that he had already created with his own hopes for their future and a new one, where he placed a plaque on the door that read 'Jess'. He spent a few minutes in this room, carefully placing things in certain corners like an expectant father in the last few days before his child is to be born. Hannibal stepped back when he was finished and admired his work. Then he locked both doors securely so the next steps he was about to take would not infect these two precious rooms.
Hannibal was once again staring at Clarice's blissful face and her clouded eyes. She was still in that sweet dream of hers and it was time that Hannibal brought a splinter of reality into her perfect world.
Author's Note: : Phantom Ange with a tour guide hat on looks behind her.: I didn't lose any of the group back in that chapter did I:grins: They'll catch up later.
Okay I know, that was really strange. Especially since this is not listed under comedy. It was really short because this chapter has been torturing me and I had to either publish it or slaughter it. I chose the first one. So I pity all you readers. : laughs: Actually I have a deep love for this chapter, this actual dream sequence started the entire 'If You Loved Me' story. I hope you all like it and please review. Tell me what you think. The Mickey Mouse pancakes is actually something my dad used to make for me and my sister when we were little and my nickname was munchkin so I had to put them in there somewhere. :grins:
And I hope you approve so far Susan. And Robert you can stop pestering me now. I have a new job so there may be a delay with the next chapter as well because i'm in a tight training mode. But don't worry I won't make you wait the same time period that was between these last two chapters.
To all my reviewers and silent readers I need your help. I found a song called Dr. Hannibal and downloaded it. It's by a rapper named Don Choa. The problem is i'm American and this song is not in English. I only understand the lyric 'Bonjour Dr. Hannibal'. I'm know I have Italian and Czech readers, but do I have any French reviewers who can translate the lyrics to Don Choa's song. I think he's French, but if he's not i'm sorry for presuming he is. Please help me out guys, the fact that I don't know what he's saying is driving me crazy. Thanks.
In the next chapter we'll find out what the 'splinter of reality' is. Ciao
