When Hannibal awakened the next morning, he couldn't help but take note of how cold and empty his bed felt. The absence of the omega that he knew slept only a few rooms down the hall from him sent an unpleasant feeling through his very being. Rejection. A sensation that would rattle the cage of any Alpha when their bonded mate chose to keep their distance.

Before they had met, Hannibal was quite content to live out his life without a companion, he had once preferred it that way. The loss of the family he had once cherished as a child, the death of his beloved Mischa had closed his heart to ever dreaming of feeling anything other than the desire to pay the world back in kind for the cruel fate it had dealt those he had once loved.

But that had changed when he had laid eyes upon Felicia, as she stood beside Sera, within the crowded function room, his sensitive sense of smell picking up the underlying scent of Omega beneath the heavy perfumes and suppressants she used to hold the mask of a weak Alpha female. Hers was nothing like the scent of any other Omega he had met, it was harsh and primal, challenging his own instincts to win her over as Hannibal the beast rather than Hannibal the man.

He hoped, as he removed himself from the Egyptian cotton sheets and rapped his favourite silk robe around his toned figure, that he would soon be able to remind her of their first encounter, of how she had made the first confident move to talk to him in an attempt to strengthen the connections for herself and Sera. But, most importantly, of how they had come together as one and become a bonded pair. Above all, that was his favourite memory of the Omega.

The house was silent as he manoeuvred down towards the kitchen, intent on taking the first steps in his plan to win her affections back over. He would make her favourite breakfast, just as he had done after she began to live with him before the coma, and prove that he could be every bit the perfect gentleman. Hopefully that would start to change her opinion that he was a complete 'Asshole'. Such an eloquent young woman she was.

He frowned as he entered his most revered room. The kitchen was his sanctum, an extension of his own refined being. To any other eye, nothing would seem out of place. But they were philistines. The air lingered with the scent of his Omega, although he had not been in this room during his own waking hours the previous night. She had come here alone and, whilst some would call him paranoid for the thought, she had done something as her act of retribution for his own poor behaviour the night prior.

"Vengeance. A gift she has mastered"

The paring knife on the counter top finally catches his eye, the elephant in the room that had been niggling at his mind from the moment he had entered. But it was the only thing he could see that was out of place. He picked it up carefully, examining the nicks and scratches that had been inflicted upon the metal of its blade, before smirking. She had taken one of his precious tools, something that her subconscious told her was important to him, and damaged it beyond repair. But it was a minor act of revenge, something that could easily be replaced by a quick trip out to a specialist in culinary equipment.

"Perhaps I gave her too much credit, she seems to have lost her touch during her time in the coma"

He placed down the knife, shaking his head at the meagre gesture of revenge. It was a well aimed blow, to target something he held precious, but not as powerful as her past actions had been. He could still remember clearly the day he found that his entire collection of dress shirts, both for the opera and for his everyday life, had been dyed bright pink. The black marker pen that boldly spelt out 'Wanker' on each garment was a different matter, however. Sera never did like to be kept out of the fun.

As the minutes ticked by, the scent of cinnamon and fresh baking began to waft through the house. Hannibal knew it would soon stir the peace of his mates slumber and bring her towards the aroma of her favourite pastry. She had always had quite a strong sweet tooth, from the sugar in her coffee to the cinnamon swirls that he had baked for her at that moment.

"I smell cinnamon... The hell are you doing?"

Speak of the devil and she should appear. Hannibal couldn't help but smile slightly as he checked the pasties in the oven before pulling the tray out. Nothing worked better at waking her up, other than the feel of his lips across her flesh and their skin pressed firmly against each other, like a tray of fresh baked pastry. He turned, intent on greeting her with the usual pleasantries of 'good morning' or 'I hope you slept well', only to be stopped in his tracks at the sight she made.

With her long tresses down and ruffled, a weary hand rubbing the sleep from tired eyes and her petite frame wrapped loosely in one of the many dress shirts he stored in the guest bedrooms along with a quick but adequate glimpse of the black and white lace French knickers that peeked through as the shirt rode up where her arm was lifted, she made quite the picture for him as a low growl rumbled from his throat and she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Back off horn ball, it's too early to be dealing with that shit"

Felicia couldn't help but let her drowsy eyes look over him for a moment, taking in the dishevelled hair as it fell over his eyes, the strong jaw line and perfect lips that seemed to sing of sin, appreciating the clearly toned and masculine body that hid beneath the silk rob and satin pyjamas.

'Don't be fooled by the fancy wrapping. Hidden beneath all those soft layers of silk and satin is a pure beast, a man who knows exactly how to make you scream his name. Trust me, he knows how to use his massive di...'

'Too much info!'

She blocked out the voice of her other self that seemed to have taken permanent residence inside her head, noticing the gleam in Hannibal's eyes that made her feel weak at the knees . Like hell she'd let a pretty faced cannibal make her legs turn to jelly she thought as she walked past him, ignoring the way his nostrils flared as he took a deep intake of her scent. Yeah, way too early in the morning for this shit, she'd been up half the night fulfilling her revenge and only the scent of her favourite treat had triggered her rising from the bed.

She hid a frown as she accepted a plate of the delicacy. She'd struggled to fall to sleep after her midnight adventure, the bed feeling cold and lonely as something made her yearn for the strong body of the Alpha in the master bedroom to be pressed against her own, arms wrapped around her in a display of shelter and protection from something that she had no memory of, she knew only that it was a fear hidden deep within herself, a darkness in her own heart that only Hannibal could understand and guard her against.

"You seem troubled dearest, I trust that you slept well?"

Her best poker face was in place in a matter of mille-seconds, her teeth grinding slightly in frustration as they stared each other down. He must have sensed that her night sleep had been poor, must have let his ego draw upon the, sadly, correct conclusion that the absence of another in her bed was the reason. More accurately, himself. But two could play at that game she thought, if the aroused look in his sanguine eyes was anything to go by then she wasn't the only one who'd slept badly from the absence of a certain bed partner.

"I slept fine. How about you? I'm certain those are bags under your eyes"

Check and mate, how'd you like them apples shit head? A smug feeling washed over her at the thought as his own poker face came into play and they remained in a silent war of will power as she bit into her breakfast and he began to pour the coffee into a cup for her, bone-china if she wasn't mistaken. She moaned appreciatively at the first taste of the cinnamon swirl, unable to hold back the sound as the taste of sugar and good quality cinnamon hit her like the first surge of heroin too an addict. Pure heaven and very much needed.

"How did you know what my favourite breakfast was? Or that my chosen brand of coffee would be Kopi Luwak?"

"You have lived with me before, I know your routine, your behavioural patterns and your expensive tastes, much like my own, better than most. Also, it is my attempt at an apology for the events of last night. It was wrong of me to rile you up in such a fashion and to treat you in such a way. I hope that you can forgive me as your Alpha and that we can make a fresh start towards rebuilding our life together?"

She kept her mask on, analysing his words and processing their meaning. He was attempting to beguile her with sweet words and honey coated apologies. Such a shame for him that Felicia's 'Bullshit radar' was fully operative and running on high alert. But she'd play his games she decided as a gentle smile came to her lips and she looked him square in the eyes, sanguine meeting storm blue and sending a jolt of electricity through both their beings. She had to admit, he was definitely attractive and, under different circumstances, she might have happily have had some fun with him but that was beside the point. He had rattled her cage, intimidated her and now she had declared her own personal war against him, whether he knew it or not.

"Thank you. I too hope that you can forgive my own outburst, I find myself rather... highly strung... at the moment"

There was a smile on his face that did not seem to spell anything good for her as, once again, he took a deep inhale of her scent. She was becoming more and more aware of their separate scents, whilst her own was nice enough to her senses and reminded her of a blizzard on a harsh winter night, Hannibal's was warmer and combined with her own to change the scene she imagined drastically. Together their scents seemed to build the picture of a tranquil winters night, a single cabin beside a frozen lake with the light of a fire burning within, the scent of spiced mulled wine catching her and relaxing her beyond what she thought possible. This was what they combined to be, his scent mixed with hers tamed the blizzard to reveal a perfect place made only for her to share with him.

Such a shame she wasn't in any mood to share she thought as he began to speak, his wording making her heart miss a beat in horror.

"You have been on heat suppressants for the past six months. The hospital placed both yourself and Sera on them so that your heats would subside and allow you to heal in peace without any Alpha, myself and Will included, attempting to mate with either of you. Now that you are awake and recovering, you have been taken off the drug to allow your bodies to get back into synch, this means that at some point you will go through an intense heat to allow yourself to adjust and return to your regular cycle.

Yours appears to be starting, if the intensity of your scent is anything to go by, and I would hazard a guess that you have little more than two weeks before it takes its full effect"

The look on her face could only be described as 'bitch say what'. He had to be kidding. She racked her brain to get an idea of what 'heat' was meant to mean before going rigid with more horror. Heat referred to an Omega's mating cycle, the minute she entered this stage she would become a hormonal ball of pent up sexual desire. No wonder Hannibal wore a smug, shit eating, smirk. She was trapped in the same house as him! Her supposed Alpha mate.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I left my I-pad in the study last night and I would like to catch up on Tattle crime before the day truly commences"

She barely registered his words, mind still reeling at the concept of going into heat. Sure, it had been little over six months since her last fuck, but that didn't mean she was ready to just drop her panties for Hannibal because her hormones were running rampant. It was strange though, that everything seemed to have a connection to the six months that both she and Sera had been in their supposed comas, how she could remember nothing beyond those six months except for what her dreams provided with her. New pieces of the puzzle seemed to come together with every new dream, the fact that she and Sera had been together in care and the fact that their foster father had died in an accidental fire. But why did she get the feeling that it hadn't been an accident?

Felicia was snapped from her thoughts as a furious roar ripped through the house accompanied by the sound of Mozart's 40th symphony butchered and meshed to combine with Bubba Sparx 'Miss new bootie' , her brain supplying her with the answer as she remembered exactly what she had done the night before. She'd messed up his office and reconfigured his I-pads entire playlist to play only mesh up's of his beloved classics and modern music. But she'd taken it further, unable to hold back in her revenge, choosing to encode the device so that it would constantly play the playlist on shuffle without Hannibal being able to turn it off.

"Uh oh"

She barely had the time to dart from her seat at the breakfast bar, dodging past him in the doorway as he made to enter the room, face twisted with fury as he turned to continue his pursuit, vaguely noticing through the haze of his anger that the shirt fluttered and lifted with the momentum of her run, showing better glimpses of the underwear beneath. The Alpha would have quite enjoyed the sight if not for the fact he was intent on catching the Omega and dishing out some serious punishment. Clearly he had underestimated her if he had believed a blunt knife was the only revenge she would reign down upon him.

"Felicia! The minute I catch you, you shall wish you had never awoken from that coma!"

"Bitch, I hit that notion the moment I saw your face in the hospital!"

She narrowly missed his grasp as the Alpha gave a warning snarl. She could feel his pheromones spiking, could feel them begin to seep into her own body as she began to pant with the exertion of defying her bodies desire to fall to the Alpha. Hell would freeze over before she fell to anyone's feet, especially Hannibal Lecter. She continued to run, upping her efforts and running faster as she skidded around a corner. She had to get the upper hand somehow, the question was how?

'try a surprise attack, run towards him rather than away. He is too enamoured with the hunt and will be thrown off guard, an Omega would not usually run head long towards an enraged Alpha'

Never a good sign when the voices were coming up with better battle strategies than she was, Felicia was beginning to worry if she'd developed some mental issues. But her other self had a point she conceded as she turned to face the direction he would come in, Hannibal would not expect her to move towards him rather than away and, if she were quick enough, she could possibly get hold of the cell phone she'd seen peeking out of his robe side-pocket. Maybe even land a quick kidney dig? The bastard deserved it enough.

"You cannot run from me forever Felicia! I shall find you and punish this behaviour"

"Good job I don't plan to then!"

As he came hurtling around the corner, she darted toward him. Even if this failed, the look of shock on his handsome face would be enough to make it all worthwhile. She stretched her arm outward, aiming for his kidney as she clothes lined him and knocked the wind from his lungs, hands delving for his pocket quickly and retrieving the cell phone from within before attempting to continue her run.

She should have known it was running too smoothly for her usual amount of luck. She yelped in shock as he gripped her ankle and pulled her down with him, attempting to pin her down with his heavier body. She didn't think as she aimed a bluff punch towards his face, ramming her foot hard into his crotch when he fell for the bait and focused on her fist.

She was back on her feet quickly as he snarled through gritted teeth, clutching his wounded manhood and watching as she made a mad dash for her freedom. She had his phone and she had crossed the final line. Now he was pissed, and a pissed Hannibal was the worst kind of Hannibal. He knew her weakness he thought as he made his way towards the kitchen and began to pull out all sources of caffeine.


she'd managed to get the upper hand, hiding away in his office on the elevated section as she scrolled through the list of contacts within his phone. Will's number had to be in here somewhere, she needed to get hold of Sera and let her know what was happening, someone to report her missing and give the needed facts if Hannibal caught her and made her corpse into art. She shivered at the thought. No thank you doctor psycho.

"Felicia, if you return my cell phone then I shall be willing to overlook this behaviour, do we have an agreement?"

Shit! She snapped her eyes down to the lower floor of the study, meeting the firm gaze of Hannibal as he began to advance towards the ladders. He had her cornered she realised just as she found the contact for Will in his log. She pressed the call button quickly as she yelled down her reply.

"You'll have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers before I call a truce with you!"

She held the device to her ear, listening as it rang out, eyes never leaving Hannibal as he drew closer and closer. Damn it Will, pick up the damn phone!

"It's... Morning Doc, what's wrong?"

"Dammit curly top! Do I sound like that fuck-head to you? Put Sera on the line!"

He was moving too close, beginning to reach the top of the ladders to stand on the mezzanine opposite with her with a victorious smirk on his face. There was only one way down from this. Jump and hope she could remember how to execute a parachute landing. The choice was stolen from her as he darted for her and she took the jump, thankfully landing in a roll.

"Did Hannibal give you the phone? What the hell Will! Why'd she get special treatment?"

Felicia felt the relief rush through her at Sera's voice, a pang of irritation at the jealous tone she could hear in the others woman's voice. Why the hell would she think Hannibal had actually given her the phone?

"He didn't give me the phone, I stole it!"

"Felicia, your list of transgressions is beginning to grow. I have warned you about committing acts that could place you in danger, yet you choose to jump from the mezzanine with little thought to your safety... You know that does not agree with my instincts as your mate"

She gritted her teeth against the wave of pheromones that began to wash over her, Managing to shout 'fuck you asshole' whilst fighting against the weakness in her knees in favour of running once more from the Alpha. It felt like she was being engulfed in an array of spices and warmth, her nostrils filling with the scent of cinnamon and star anise. It was heavenly, felt wonderful as it sent sparks along her flesh that were a little too close to arousal for her liking, it felt too much like coming home after so long. But this was Hannibal and home was certainly not with him. At least she thought it wasn't. But recently with the dreams filling her mind and the strange feeling of familiarity she felt towards the house, she wasn't so sure what she thought anymore.

She came to a skidding halt in the entrance hall, perhaps she could make an escape attempt out of the front door she thought as she listened carefully for any pursuing footsteps before Sera's voice drifted from the device once more and too her ear

"Felicia, are you still there? What's going on?"

"Long story short... shit, he's locked the front door...He pissed me off last night so I got a good healthy dose of revenge, and now we're playing cat and mouse around the house... Guess who's the fucking mouse!"

she could all but imagine the look on her friends face as an exasperated sigh passed her lips. It really wasn't something Felicia could control, she'd always been quite a vengeful person if her memory served correct. Pink shirts and 'Wanker' written in marker pen sprang to mind, though she couldn't quite remember why as Hannibal's face surfaced in her mind, livid and in all his animalistic glory. Had that been a prank she'd played on him? It couldn't be... Right?

"Care to go into detail on the revenge?"

She barely caught her friends question as her mind began wracking itself for further information to try and place the memory more firmly in place, the pieces of the puzzle swimming through her mind and goading her with their unwillingness to make better sense. She gave a sheepish chuckle as she finally focused more on Sera's words, feeling her heart jump into her throat at the sound of Hannibal slamming the study door and coming for her once more, appearing on the other side of the hall from her as she made a mad dash for anywhere to hide. What had taken him so long to continue the chase?

"Well... Haha yeah... Fuck he moves fast... you see, he was being a total jackass... you heard me! You're a JACKASS!... Telling me that I couldn't work any longer as a psychiatrist because I'm an 'Omega'. Some choice words were exchanged and I stormed off and waited till I knew he'd be sleeping... I rearranged his office, blunted his paring knife in the process and-"

She was cut short as the sound of another phone began to ring in the background, a chair scraping against wood flooring as she watched Hannibal come back into sight, a second cell phone pressed to his own ear as she sent him a dumb struck expression as he spoke into his own device.

" Tell them what else you did dearest Felicia... And please refrain from yelling or using such vulgar language within the house we share, it does little to help the situation we find ourselves in"

No shit it does little to help the situation, but she'd already dug her own grave that morning so, as she flipped the bird at him and continued to run, she decided that she might as well send herself off in style.

"The hell did you get a cell phone from? And how's about you kiss my ass, You're a wanker and you know it!... Anyway, as I was saying, I messed up his office, blunted a paring knife and had a fiddle about with his I-pad"

She could hear Hannibal's incredulous scoff at her words, could feel the irritation flowing from him and making his scent seem sharper and more intense. It was mouth watering to her and it took all of her will power not to simply crash to the floor then and there in a display of surrender and submission.

"You did more than fiddle! You deleted my entire collection of classical music and operatic melodies, replacing them with the modern monstrosities that so many listen to these days. If that had not been enough, you have encoded the device so that I cannot access my own playlist to correct this crime against my hearing, I cannot even get past the home page to gain entrance to any other feature! Thank you, also, for the delightful picture of yourself as my new background cover, I assure you that it had the desired effect. And to answer your question, I always have a back-up cell phone for emergencies or incidents such as this... It is not the first time you have stolen my possessions"

A smile of pride came to her face as laughter began to echo from Sera's end of the call, the sound clearly doing nothing to appease Hannibal as the man gave a low growl of annoyance and followed her into the dining room. Shit, she'd not realised that there was only one entrance for this room. He had her cornered and she knew the game was over, he sure as hell wouldn't fall for the same trick twice... Or would he if it were played out differently?

"Revenge is a bitch and so am I!... For fuck sake!... Sera, He has me cornered in the dining room, If I die then know that I died happy in the knowledge that I rattled Hannibal 'ass bunny' Lecter's cage and that I expect you to avenge my murder"

"Pfft, dream on. If you die then I'm going into hiding"

She sent a glare to the phone as she made to charge at Hannibal once more, watching as he prepared to grab her only to have the small Omega jump onto the table and begin to run, barefoot, across the surface. It was a perfect escape, fool proof she thought as she made to jump over the chair at the end.

"Felicia, be careful!"

Her foot snagged against the head of the chair, her balance lost as she crashed to the floor and her head collided with the surface.

"Fuck..."

She was vaguely aware of Arms hooking behind her back and knees, her head falling to nest against strong shoulders and the soothing scent of Hannibal wrapping around her as the world went dark and she passed out.

Hannibal looked down at the woman in his arms as he held the cell phone between his ear and shoulder. He couldn't help the small but affectionate smile that graced his lips for a moment, taking in the sight of his beloved Omega now that she was unconscious. Anyone would mistake her for an angel when like this, if only they knew what she was really like.

"Where did she go! I swear to god, if you did anything to actually hurt her then I don't care if I'm an 'Omega' and you're an 'Alpha', I'll have your fucking head!"

He gave an exasperated sigh as Sera's voice snarled through the phone and into his ear, breaking his moment to simply study his mate and forcing him into action as he hoisted her body up into his arms completely and began moving towards the master bedroom. He'd almost forgotten that the other Omega was on the line as he took note of the enraged tone, the protective nature of her words. He could not blame her for being angry, he knew how close the pair were and that it was only natural, after everything they had been through together, that they would not allow any harm to come to the other if they could help it. He had once felt the same towards his own beloved sister Mischa, he only hoped that they continued to be more successful than him in such matters.

"I assure you young Sera that, whilst I was in pursuit of my mate, I had little to do with her sudden disappearance from the conversation... I had her cornered in the dining room, as she mentioned, where she saw fit to attempt an escape over the dining table. She misjudge her footing and tripped over a chair, effectively hitting her head against the flooring and knocking herself unconscious. She has a slight cut above her right eye so, if you would excuse me, it would seem I now have a patient to take care of"

With that he turned the phone off, placing his mate upon the sheets of his bed carefully and feeling the flames of his Alpha pride and ego being stoked as she nuzzled deeper into the bedding, moaning in appreciation, her subconscious wanting to be as close to his scent as she could possibly be. He watched her for a moment once more, enjoying the sight of her so at peace, before moving to collect the items he would need to attend the cut above her eye. It was not severe but it would not do if he left it unattended. No Alpha worth his salt would ever allow their mate to go without the proper care for even the smallest injury.

He would never admit it to her face, knowing that even after she had regained her memories she would simply brush his concerns away and accuse him of becoming weak on her, but he worried for her and the fact that one day she could be taken from him, along with Sera and Will. He did not wish to lose the family that he had finally found for himself.

After all, it wasn't just the Chesapeake ripper that had gained some notoriety with the FBI.