Summary & Disclaimer: Yeah, unfortunately I don't own any of the Hannibal or Silence of the Lamb Characters. Thomas Harris does, and I resent him for it! This is my first fic, but don't go easy on me with the reviews, because I can take it! Honestly! But if I do not get any reviews, I will assume you do not like it :(

IMPORTANT: The Prologue takes place sometime between the Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. Just to set the story in motion, this plot assumes that Hannibal and Clarice had an affair, with Hannibal fleeing the country after this. The rest if the story takes place AFTER HANNIBAL. You will understand when you read the rest.

Prologue

It was nine and a half months after she shot Buffalo Bill, and Clarice Starling lay in the hospital bed crying. Not because of the events of that day, well not entirely. The pain came mostly from the baby that she was giving birth to.

Natural childbirth. Pain wracked her body, but there was no comforting man beside her for support. She was strong though, and she sighed in relief when the boy was pulled from her body.

The baby boy was a beautiful 6 pounds 3 ounces and 21 inches. She could tell from the puffy hair that he would have her colour. But the eyes were very distinct. Not her eyes at all.

Tears brimmed in her eyes again as she looked at her son. He was nameless and perfect and beautiful. He was innocent, and she intended for him to remain that way, so when the representative from the FBI and the adoption agency came in together, she managed to save face. She knew she was making the right decision. By giving him up for adoption, she was in fact saving him. Saving him from her past and her mistakes. By sacrificing her own happiness, she was ensuring his.

She would be surprised if He had found about her condition. She had just recently graduated from Quantico, and it was natural that she not be in the news. She kept herself out of public for the most part, relying on the kindnesses of Ardelia and her friends at the FBI. It was by Senator Martin and Jack Crawford calling in favors that she even had a job to go back to.

She could only picture what growing up for him would be like. She would rather have him laugh at the tabloids than show up on the front page as the "Child of a Monster". And what if He attempted to contact her or her son... what could she do? The FBI was reluctant to help, and it took her the entire term of her pregnancy to get them to protect her son.

"Would you like to hold him, miss?"

The question knocked her out of thought. "No, thank you. Please, let us make this as quick as possible. I do not want a relationship with him at all. The worst thing for the both of us would be if I grew attached."

The adoption representative, Mr. Kleary, turned to her. "It will be a closed adoption", he began, "The child's home will be private information not privy to anyone but the parents, top officials of the FBI, and myself. Once you sign these papers Ms. Starling, you will be relinquishing your rights as the parent of this child to his foster family. Any information regarding his parentage will be disclosed to him at the discretion of his new family, or by this agency once he reaches the age of 18, if he desires."

Clarice nodded numbly to show her understanding as she reviewed the paperwork. She could hear her son crying in the other room, and almost hesitated as she reached for a pen.

Am I doing the right thing? Is this truly necessary? I could protect him.

Not from the media, a small voice said, you couldn't do that. You couldn't protect him from the stares, the humiliation, or the reporters. But most of all, you couldn't protect your son from Him.

The wailing in the next room grew louder as Clarice signed her son away. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, but she could only hear the screaming. . .