"Felicia, why don't you ever talk about your real family?"

She sighed as she looked up from the music sheet that lay upon her tatty old writing desk, looking towards the other Omega as she stared at her with curiosity within her eyes. After over six years together, Felicia had come to accept that Sera would ever quite let go of trying to learn everything about her. In the first year, she'd managed to bat her off with answers to her favourite colour, quick outlines of what her hobbies were, simple things that had kept the then seven year old Omega at bay.

But now she was drawing closer to fourteen, and such simple answers were no longer enough for her inquisitive nature. She wanted names of family, Felicia's own story to balance out the fact that she knew Sera's past. She wanted things that Felicia wanted only to forget.

"I've told you before Sera... I don't like talking about it and I'd rather you just dropped it"

Sera frowned, kicking her legs back and forward as she sat upon Felicia's bed, watching as her older 'sister' continued to study the piano sheet music before her. She'd made progress over the years since that day in the school yard in getting the ice to melt from Felicia's heart, but something still held her back from completely thawing it out. She knew that her favourite colour was various shades of blue's, that she enjoyed the sound of piano and violin music, could play both with ease and at a level of skill that Sera was still trying to master in her own music lessons.

But that wasn't enough anymore. It made no sense to her that the other would ever want to forget her birth family, not when Sera cherished the memories of her own so dearly.

"C'mon, it can't be that bad? You make it seem like you hate them"

Sera hadn't noticed the way that Felicia's fists had begun to clench, the veil of ice shrouding her eyes as thoughts of her mother and father crossed through her mind. She did hate them, with a burning passion. The raven stood up and moved towards the other, leaning gently against the back of her chair like she had done so many times before.

"Like, it's almost like you'd burn every memory or something. You can tell me, what were they like?"

"Je l'ai dit il chute!"

Felicia had swung around in her chair to face the other, a glacial rage upon her face as Sera recovered her balance and backed up a few paces, her instincts as an Omega screaming at her to run from the danger that seemed to encase Felicia's very being but another part of her brain reminding her that the blond would never do anything to hurt her, that Felicia would sooner damage herself than see Sera in pain.

Felicia swiped a hand across her face, forcing the emotions back within their cage as she sent a weary, apologetic look towards Sera.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap"

"Was that French?"

The fair haired Omega scoffed and turned back to her work, speaking softly and dropping her aggressive response in an attempt to calm the other as panic radiated from the other and made her realise that her outburst may have wounded the other more than she had intended.

"Yeah... My Grandmother was French. She and her husband moved to America during the fifties. She taught me the language whilst I was still very young... I have a bad habit of switching between languages when placed under extreme levels of pressure or exposed to equal amounts of stress, but I'm working on controlling it"

Sera blinked in surprise as she processed the information, her senses calming at the others tone and calming body language. She felt a small amount of achievement at the minor incident, she'd extracted some small facts about the other, learned a little more about her birth family, but not quite enough to satisfy the curiosity. What was it about her birth family that put Felicia so on edge?

"So you have linguistic turrets?"

Felicia felt her eye begin to twitch at Sera's response, a habit that had begun to develop in the last two or three years as she found herself opening up more and more towards the other Omega, it was a subconscious method for her to portray her irritation without speaking. Sera seemed to find it quite an amusing development in the blonds behaviour.

"I don't have linguistic turrets, just a bad habit that rears its head from time to time. Like I said, I'm trying to control it"

"Sounds like linguistic turrets to me Fliss"

Felicia shook her head with an affectionate smile, ignoring the nickname that Sera had given to her, finding that any feelings of anger or irritation rapidly began to fade at the cheeky grin on her sister's face. She just couldn't bring herself to feel any form of negative emotion towards her, she was the only good thing in her life, the only person she could honestly say she cared for. Even loved.

"Felicia! It's time for your piano lessons!"

The mask of indifference was back on her face before Sera could even register the change as Mr. Dunhill came into the room. For a second, she was convinced that she could see that same menacing gleam within the Alpha's eyes whenever he looked upon Felicia, though it seemed to vanish as soon as he realised that she was in the room as well. His smile was warm and friendly as he spoke to Sera, nothing like the sneers he showered upon Felicia when he thought nobody was looking.

"Ah Sera, I was wondering where you had vanished too. You should get ready too, I rescheduled your dance lessons for today"

Felicia kept her back turned as a worried frown came to her face. Ever since she had taken Sera under her wing, she'd kept tabs on the schedule that Dunhill created for the younger Omega, making sure that nothing seemed out of the ordinary or suspicious. She could still remember her first months in the house, the Alpha had been all kindness and love, fooling her into believing that she would finally have a family that loved her for what she was, a family that didn't care that she was just an Omega.

That had lasted six months before the first punch had been landed, the first broken rib and numerous bruises that had been passed off at the hospital as a silly little Omega tripping and falling down the stairs in the excitement of her 'beloved' Alpha father returning home. Lies. All lies.

"OK, I'll be quick"

Felicia watched from the corner of her eye as her sister left the room, leaving her alone with the Alpha as he began to advance forward. Maybe Sera would be safe, maybe beating her was enough to stop him going after the younger girl and he really had just rescheduled to a more convenient time and day... At least that's what she hoped as a hand wrapped through her pale gold tresses and pulled her head back harshly, her face remaining blank as pain seared through her scalp.

"You better hope I don't get anymore reports of you fighting with the other music students, you little Omega bitch. Don't forget what happened last time"

Oh how could she forget, a broken wrist was not an easy thing to cover up from a younger sister who suffered so heavily from curiosity. She remained silent as he left the room also, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of talking back when it would only result in a slap to the face.

She lifted herself from her seat at the desk, wincing as the welts on her back from a belt rubbed against her jumper. She was in pain, a feeling she had long since accepted as the only constant in her life, but she'd sooner suffer this a thousand times than think that Sera would join her in mutual misery.

6 Hours Later:

She groaned as she listened to the elderly beta woman next to her on the drive home, Ms. Fricks. She was a nice enough woman, a colleague of Dunhill's that occasionally helped out with the girls by taking them to school or to their extra classes. It was nice of her, considering how far out Dunhill lived from the nearest town, but Felicia often wished that the woman would just leave her to sit in silence some times. She was always trying to get her to speak more than a few monotone sentences, never quite realising that the attempt was not appreciated or wanted. The only person Felicia wanted to speak too most day was Sera.

The car began to slow as the house came into view through the forest, Felicia pulling her satchel up from the floor and onto her lap as she prepared to jump free of the car, not wanting to waste any more time on inane chit-chat.

"Give my best to Charles, and tell Sera that I hope she feels better soon"

Felicia's face scrunched up in confusion as she sent a questioning look towards the woman, what the hell did she mean? Sera had been perfectly healthy before she'd left.

"Oh sorry dear, I should have told you sooner. Sera had an accident at her dance class this morning. Charles said that she'd lost her balance and fell on her ankle at a funny angle, spraining it pretty badly"

Her heart stopped within her chest at those words. Something seemed off as she gave a quick nod of acknowledgement and began to move towards the front door. Something seemed wrong as she drew closer and extended her hand towards the door handle, but perhaps she was being paranoid, maybe Sera had simply injured herself whilst in class, she could be quite clumsy when excited.

The house was eerily quite as Felicia pushed the door open, her sensitive nose picking up the faintest scent of drying blood as she listened for the tell-tale sound that Mr. Dunhill was somewhere within the house. She was thankful to find that he wasn't home at that moment.

She felt a knot of fear tighten within her heart, nausea curdling within her stomach as she moved through each section of the house and found nothing out of place before moving towards the stairway, the scent of the blood growing stronger with each step up that she took. She didn't want to see what she would find as she drew closer to the room that the scent was leaking from. Sera's bedroom.

"Sera... Oh god, Sera!"

As she pushed the door open, tears fell from her eyes. Sera was curled up on her bed, back exposed except for her bra straps, blood oozing from fresh belt marks where the buckle had torn through delicate flesh and soaking into the bedding that offered little comfort for the pain. It looked a mess and Felicia could tell that some parts would scar... That bastard had really gone to town on this beating.

She moved closer, sobbing slightly as Sera flinched from her touch before relaxing upon realising that she was safe. For now. Dunhill took great pleasure in his beatings, it was something that Felicia knew all too well. She curled up on the bed opposite her sister, doing her best to offer a reassuring smile as dark eyes met her own. What was she meant to say?

"What happened?"

"I... I don't know. I came downstairs after you left and said I was ready for my dance lesson... But he just smiled, said the lesson had been cancelled. I asked why and he flipped, told me to stop back chatting him and to be a 'good Omega bitch'... I don't get it, what did I do wrong"

Felicia pulled Sera into a hug as the younger Omega began to sob once more, feeling the tremors run through her as the emotion racked through her heart.

"Don't you ever blame yourself, you did nothing wrong. Dunhill is a weak Alpha that feels like the only way he can prove himself is by making those under his care feel smaller than him, weaker. But we're not. he's putting us through hell but we'll come out stronger for it, better. I know how it feels, it's all I ever really knew until you came here.

Before I was placed into care, I lived in New Orleans. My family were well off and both my parents were Alpha's. They hoped to create a thoroughbred Alpha, the perfect offspring off two strong parents. But I was born instead, a little Omega child that they believed would never achieve their ambitions... My grandmother convinced them to keep me for four years, she was an Omega as well and the only person who ever told me she loved me. She took the time to teach me French, inspired my interest in music... She made me happy. But she couldn't convince them forever, the word of an Omega eventually meaning nothing to them, so I ended up here.

It was a living hell before you came here, I could barely even put emotion into my words let alone smile. You are my smile Sera, and in return I wanted to be your shield, I'll still be your shield as best as I can, just don't let him destroy you like he destroyed what was left of me, you keep that light and that smile because I promise you, we'll get out of here. One way or another"

She felt Sera's arms tighten around her as Felicia did her best not to touch and aggravate the bleeding welts upon her back.

"He didn't destroy you... You're just waiting for the moment you can really fight back. But you aren't going to be fighting alone now Fliss. I know what he'd like now, and I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner"

Felicia just gave a sad smile. Sera had never been meant to know the truth, she'd wanted the younger Omega to be spared the physical and mental abuse, to remain pure and innocent just like an Omega was meant too. But what pride was there really in being a part of the weakest gender? What was there to feel good about in knowing that others had so much power over you?

Felicia hated that feelings, hated it with every fibre of her being. No Alpha had the right to rule over either herself or Sera, over any Omega for that fact. So why let them? She had no desire to become some Alpha's baby machine, to maintain his house and have no say in her own life after mating.

Together she and Sera would become great, even if it meant hiding their true gender and living a lie. Anything had to be better than this.


Felicia's eyes flew open as reality came crashing back to her, the horrid image of her dream flashing through her mind as she began to scream in fear, clutching her head as her mind's eye forced her to see Sera's battered form once more.

"Aucun! Mettre un terme à tout cela, je ne veux pas oublier!"

She clutched her head harder, unable to see anything but the visions of her dream as her bedroom door was opened and the body of a man could be seen in the opening. Dunhill, her visions had brought Dunhill to her once more.

"Escapade! Vous n'êtes pas réel, restez loin de moi!"

She felt arms wrap around her, pulling her towards a strong chest as a soothing voice caressed her hearing like the finest silk or purest of melted chocolate, a scent filled with spice and warmth filling her nose and causing her to relax into the arms that held her gently against her will.

"Vous êtes en sécurité mon amour, il est parti et ne peut pas vous nuire"

Hannibal? She tried to push him away to get a better look at his face, to reassure her mind that the nightmare had not taken form. Why did the idea of this man, this cannibal, being so close make her feel safe? If anything, he should have scared her more that Dunhill ever could, but he didn't and the idea that it was his arms that now held her was soothing.

"Promettez-vous?"

He smiled and nodded as she finally managed to look him in the eyes, searching his features before relaxing completely against him and releasing her head from her hands. She looked haunted, just like the first time she had told him of her past, a weariness within her eyes that slowly began to dissipate into defiance as she pulled herself away from him completely.

"I hate that I've forgotten everything, that I have to relive it all again just so that I can suffer the knowledge once more... I wish I'd never woken up, at least in that coma dream I didn't have a bloody path to look back upon or an unwanted identity to deal with"

"You should never say such things Felicia. What happened to both yourself and Sera made you the women you are today. The path you once walked brought you into my life and that is something I will be eternally grateful for"

She scoffed, curling up into a defensive ball as rebuilt her defiant facade and glared at him.

"You're telling me you're happy that you got landed with an Omega as fucked up as me? I don't remember anything passed my teenage years now and the few weeks I've been awake. I'm brash, blunt and apparently suffer from-"

"Linguistic turrets I believe is what Sera has labelled it. And yes, I am happy to have met you, to have fallen in love with you. Because although you suffer from many bad habits, you are also bestowed with many good ones"

Felicia couldn't help the blush that began to rise within her cheeks the way her heart began to swell as she sent a small smile towards him and was greeted by his own. Maybe Hannibal wasn't as bad as she had thought, maybe he genuinely did care for her like he said that he did. He didn't seem like the type of man to come rushing to another's side without cause to do so. Perhaps she could give him the same chance that Sera had given Will?

"You know... I think you may be growing on me Dr. Lecter, slowly but surely. But don't think that flattery will help me forget that you stole all the coffee"

His laughter at her words sounded like music to her ears as she let the smile upon her lips grow a little wider. Sure, she was starting to take a liking to the man, but that sure as hell didn't mean she'd let the coffee incident slide. Not by a long shot. She just had to wait for Sera, that was all.


Translations:

Aucun! Mettre un terme à tout cela, je ne veux pas oublier !

meaning: No! make it stop, I don't want to remember.

Escapade ! Vous n'êtes pas réel, restez loin de moi!

Meaning: Get away! You're not real, stay away from me!

Vous êtes en sécurité mon amour, il est parti et ne peut pas vous nuire

Meaning: You are safe my love, he is gone and cannot hurt you

Promettez-vous?

Meaning: Do you promise?