Chapter 20: Genesis

Clarice Starling sat at her desk, head in her hands, red hair falling around her face, eyes closed, fingers gently massaging her temples. Part of her was wracked with guilt over the suicide of Kendra Mitchell and part of her was relieved that the woman was no longer her boss which then caused her to feel even more guilty. It was cyclical really. But in all actuality, Kendra Mitchell had been on the verge of arrest anyway by the Department of Justice, not for her suspected involvement in the disappearance of Will Graham but for repeated complaints of abuses against her by other agents. Through a covert ongoing investigation, the DOJ had finally compiled enough evidence against her on counts of verbal abuse, physical abuse, and sexual harassment. For the umpteenth time, Clarice told herself that the blood currently being scraped and scrubbed off the wall in Kendra's office was not her fault, Kendra's demise had been coming one way or the other.

Clarice lifted her head, pushed the hair back out of her face, and forced herself to concentrate on the report in front of her. It was an update from Violent Crimes on the analysis of the riddle in Dr. Hannibal Lecter's note that had accompanied Will Graham's severed finger. She had already read it a dozen times and now as she skimmed it again, the words repeated in her head before she even read over them.

"Analysis...ending line...'met his ending at our genesis'...theory that 'our' could be 'r'...18th letter of the alphabet...book of Genesis in the Bible...18th chapter...no relevance found...continuing closer analysis of Genesis...professor of theology at Harvard."

Clarice closed her eyes and beseeched her mind to quiet. Despite the reference by Dr. Lecter to Will's being a savior and the fact that Dr. Lecter enjoyed throwing around religious anecdotes and stories of God's cruelty, Clarice could see no reason why the riddle would contain any religious connotation, Dr. Lecter was not a religious individual and neither were Will or Clarice. She decided there was most likely nothing relevant in the book of Genesis and they would find nothing there to help determine Will and Josh Grahams' whereabouts.

Again, the words to the rhyme ran through her mind. 'Clarice and Will went up a hill to fetch Dr. Lecter but alas, Will fell down, FBI savior uncrowned, and met his ending at our genesis.' Over and over she repeated them. The answer was here, she knew it was, just as Seth had told her. Some of her old confidence was beginning to return; Seth was right, she had to figure this out for Will's and Josh's sakes. She just needed to see it.

As her mind worked the words, shaping and molding them into possible coherence, it was suddenly there on the tip of her tongue. Clarice opened her eyes wide, but they stared, unseeing. At that moment, Seth Williams walked through the door into her office.

"Clarice," he began but she held up one hand to silence him, not even looking in his direction. He closed the door quietly and moved to sit down in 'Will's chair', crossing one leg over the other and resting his elbows on the arms of the chair. He watched her and smiled to himself. Once she was in her trance, there was no stopping her. He had not seen her like this in a very long time and it was good to see it again now.

"Our genesis," she whispered. "Genesis...genesis...genesis means beginning. Whose beginning? Our beginning...our beginning. Our beginning as in humankind?" She shook her head. "No, that's too broad even for Dr. Lecter. Our beginning as in me and Will? Our beginning as in Will and Dr. Lecter?" She paused and shook her head again. "No, no, the note was addressed to me, to me from Dr. Lecter. To me from Dr. Lecter. So...our beginning as in Dr. Lecter and I." And then she had it. She looked up at Seth. "Dr. Lecter and I had our beginning at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane." Clarice smiled and slowly nodded her head. "That's where he's got them," she said excitedly and stood up.

Seth shook his head, his dark face clouding. "It was already searched, Clarice," he said quietly. "The field agents found nothing except a homeless man, rats, and spiders. The care taker said that he had not heard or observed anyone around the grounds in ages. They're not there."

Clarice looked at him and her eyes burned with excitement. "Yes they are," she said fervently. "Think about it. When did the field agents search the premises? Very early Saturday morning," she paused, shuffled through the loose papers on her desk, pulled out one of the sheets and found the information she was looking for. "At 4am. That was just over twelve hours after Will disappeared. Surely Dr. Lecter knew that would be one of the first places they would check. So he waited until they were gone and set up camp there."

"I don't know Clarice," Seth replied dubiously.

"Please help me Seth," Clarice pleaded softly. "Come with me, we'll just check it out and if there's nothing there, we'll move on to the next idea. But I know I'm right, I've got to be right."

Seth Williams smiled at his friend and colleague indulgently. He supposed there would be no harm in accompanying her just to satisfy her curiosity. Besides, it would be good to get out of the office, they had been working so much overtime. He nodded and stood up slowly, stretching his arms up over his head.

"Okay Clarice."

Dr. Hannibal Lecter laid his head down gently on the cot and closed his eyes. He had found the cot down in one of the storage closets on the ground floor and had dusted it off as best he could but an old musty smell filled his nostrils anyway. He sneezed once, rubbed his nose, and curled his arm under his head to keep it off the malodorous cot. He was tired. His weary body demanded a rest so he indulged it.

His keen ears were attuned to even the slightest of noises with in the boarded up hospital. He could hear the rats scurrying along behind the walls on their little rat errands, he could hear the building settle and creak, and he could faintly hear Joshua Graham still screaming obscenities and crying although his voice was growing ever more hoarse and strained from exertion.

Dr. Lecter had amusedly set this cot up in Dr. Chilton's former office although everything personal to the man had long since been removed when he had retired after Lecter's escape in Memphis many years ago. There remained now only a desk, a chair, and two bookcases, all filmed with dust and grime and used now only by spiders and their webs. Dr. Lecter had chosen this spot for his cot because the office overlooked the vast parking lot and he wanted to be sure he could hear any vehicles approaching, especially the distinct rumble of a Mustang's engine.

Abruptly his ears detected only silence and he decided that Joshua Graham must have finally seen the futility of his labored screaming and at last given up. Dr. Lecter decided that he could not really blame the boy for his wails, after all, for several hours he had been sitting strapped into the wooden chair in front of his father's cell and watched as the life slowly ebbed from his father's body and there was nothing he could do about it.

Hannibal Lecter smiled now as he recalled the highlight of his week, the crucifixion of Will Graham. After the scourging, Dr. Lecter had cut the rope from Will's limp, torn and bleeding, unconscious body and had dragged the man back into his cell. From there he had gone to retrieve the two by fours he had procured from his buddy the maintenance man, being careful to lock the door to Will's cell just in case he happened to regain consciousness. He had lugged them easily back down to the dungeon and past Joshua Graham's cell. Joshua had looked at him, terrified that he actually intended to carry out his father's sentence.

Dr. Lecter had once again opened the door to Will's cell and pulled the boards in. Once he had nailed the shorter board near the top of the longer one, he had exited the cell and stood directly in front of Joshua's. Dr. Lecter had tilted his head as he regarded the young man, the dim light of the hallway casting eerie shadows across the man's face. Joshua Graham had stared back wide-eyed but silent.

"Well then, young Graham," Dr. Lecter had rasped. "Are you ready for the show?"

Despite his terror, Josh's stomach had rumbled loudly. It had been nearly two days since he had had anything to eat and he was absolutely famished. Dr. Lecter had smiled broadly.

"The human body is remarkable," he had commented. "Here I am, slowly killing your father in front of your eyes and yet your body responds with hunger pains. Self preservation," Dr. Lecter had smiled, "is an amazing thing."

Joshua had looked at him gloomily but said nothing. Dr. Lecter had gestured for him to come to the front of the cell, holding the electro shock wand in front of him.

"Come on then," he had said. "It's time."

Obediently, Josh had stood up and walked on weakened legs to the door of the cell as Dr. Lecter had unlocked it.

"Now if you try anything," he had warned the boy, "I'll give you one hell of a zap with this, so do not be foolish."

Dr. Lecter had held the wand up in front of Joshua's face and he had been able to hear it humming slightly. He had nodded and Dr. Lecter opened the door. Josh had stepped through and walked past Dr. Lecter. As he did, he had made a sudden turn and brought his right fist crashing into the doctor's face. Startled, Dr. Lecter had stumbled backward, clutched his nose with his left hand, and raised the electro shock wand in his right. Joshua had immediately lunged for Dr. Lecter and ducked to avoid the wand. Moving quickly, Dr. Lecter had redirected the wand and caught Joshua Graham directly in the gut before he had been able to get his hands on the doctor. Electricity had coursed through the young man's malnourished body and he crumpled instantly to the floor, groaning.

Dr. Lecter had swiped the blood that trickled from his nose and clucked his tongue at the boy. Joshua had lain on the floor, involuntarily shaking from the jolt.

"Joshua, that was unwise," Dr. Lecter had replied coolly. "Now get up and sit in the chair."

Josh had slowly rolled over and risen up on his hands and knees, much the way his father had previously before Lecter had kicked him in the ribs. Dr. Lecter had eyed him disdainfully and watched as the boy stood up on his shaky legs. Joshua had never felt anything like that before and it had seemed he could feel every muscle in his body quivering. He had stumbled to the chair and sat down heavily, exhaling. Dr. Lecter had strapped his arms and legs down firmly, put the wand back on the floor, picked up the nail gun, and had walked back into Will's cell.

"Please don't do this," Joshua had pleaded quietly, tears beginning to course down his cheeks once more. "I beg you, please. He's had enough just leave him be. Use me instead. Please."

Dr. Lecter had ignored him although he was surprised that the boy was hydrated enough to still produce tears. And he had thought it rather touching that Joshua was attempting to protect the father he had not seen in years. As a psychiatrist he had always been fascinated by the intense familial sense of duty most human beings had engrained into them from birth. He had walked to where Will lay next to the two boards and saw that he was beginning to regain consciousness again.

'Excellent,' Dr. Lecter had thought and smiled. 'This will be too perfect. I would prefer him to be awake for this.'

Will Graham had groaned and had slowly shaken his head from side to side as if trying to clear away a horrible nightmare. Dr. Lecter had roughly pulled him up onto the boards so that he was lying on the vertical one and cut his pants from off him with his pocket knife so he had been clad only in his boxer shorts. Lecter had then moved to Will's right side and lifted his arm up to the two by four nailed to the top of the other board. He had been able to hear the man's broken ribs pop and grate at the motion. As Dr. Lecter had picked up the nail gun, Joshua had begun to scream at him and Will had opened his eyes.

"Fuck you Lecter," Will had whispered hoarsely, his bleary, misery-filled eyes had met Dr. Lecter's.

Dr. Lecter had smiled down cruelly at the man and positioned the nail gun in the center of Will's wrist. Now as he lay on the cot, Dr. Lecter remembered the sounds as he had nailed Will Graham to his 'cross' and he smiled softly. The report of the nail gun as he had pressed the trigger, the sound of the nail breaking bones and snapping tendons as it had driven through Will's wrist into the wood underneath, and the sound of both Grahams once again screaming simultaneously. Mercifully for him, Will Graham had passed out for what Dr. Lecter suspected was the final time after he had nailed the man's other wrist down before moving down to his feet.

Now Dr. Lecter lay still on the cot and closed his eyes. His merriment was basically over and the adrenaline that had coursed through his body as he had performed his amusements was gone, leaving in its wake a cold, bitter melancholy. Lecter turned introspective and thought of how he had lost everything that mattered to him within the last week; his home, his belongings, his sense of security, his protégé, Zachary Matthews, but most of all, his goddess, Clarice Starling. After he had left her home last night, a large part of him had considered taking his own life, feeling he had nothing left worth living for, and merely leaving the two Grahams to a morbid, painful death of starvation. In the end, however, his desire to inflict intense pain on Will, to make him suffer, had finally won out over his loss of the will to live.

However, now, his work with Will was done and suicidal thoughts crept silently back into Dr. Lecter's mind. He sighed, opened his eyes, and his line of vision fell upon the gun lying on the desk next to his cot. It was Will's .45 and the man's FBI badge and ID lay next to it. Dr. Lecter thought how easy it would be to just slip the barrel into his mouth, point it up toward the top of his head, and just pull the trigger.

'So what's stopping you Hannibal?' he asked himself bitterly. "Do it. Kill yourself and shed the robes of this tortured existence.'

But Hannibal Lecter had always believed suicide to be the coward's way out. He had always been a strong-spirited, strong-willed man and his self preservation had always been stalwart. But over the last few years he had found himself coming to detest the life he had ultimately chosen and what he had become. He had found himself longing for a more normal, mainstream life, a home and family. Dr. Lecter had always been something of a loner but now every fiber of his being ached to share life with a loving, responsive partner and to possibly have offspring, to leave his mark on the world. But the decisions made earlier in his life now made that desire unattainable.

He sighed again and knew that Clarice Starling should be showing up at the Baltimore hospital anytime soon, the clue provided in his note to her had been entirely too transparent so that she would indeed be able to find them, although not in time to save Will, of that he would make certain. Hannibal Lecter knew that while he was still being actively hunted by the FBI he would never be able to pursue the life he wanted so desperately and a plan now began to take shape in his fevered mind. As his mind worked the idea, shaping and molding it, Hannibal Lecter felt a feeling of calm and assurance wash over him, all former feelings of suicide banished.

He sat up and looked at his watch. If he was going to set his new plan into motion, he needed to hurry. He picked up Will's gun off the desk and tucked it into the rear waistband of his jeans under his shirt.
Later that afternoon, Clarice Starling and Seth Williams sat inside the car and stared up at the seemingly deserted Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the sun glinted dully off the dust encrusted windows. Clarice turned off the Mustang's engine and sat back in her seat. They sat stoic, listening to the birds calling and the distant traffic from the highway. This building was cloaked in memories for her, both painful and uplifting, and she felt apprehension and dread wash over her at the prospect of having to enter it one more time.

The last time she had entered the hospital had been just over five years ago when she had come here in search of clues as to Dr. Lecter's whereabouts. She had carried only a small flashlight with her that had hardly penetrated the pitch blackness of the abandoned hospital. The absolute quiet had rung in her ears, almost deafening in its infiniteness. She had first checked the main office and found that Dr. Lecter's patient files had been picked through and completely cleared out. She remembered now how she had screwed her courage and ventured down into the dungeon where his former cell was.

'I'll be watching. You'll do fine,' Barney's words had echoed in her ears as she had made her way through the outer gate into the pitch of the hallway she knew so well.

She remembered the dust and filth that had covered the entire place but as she had approached his cell, she had seen the surroundings only as clean and sterile, and suddenly she had no longer been a veteran, hardened FBI agent but a young, naïve trainee all over again, approaching Dr. Hannibal 'the Cannibal' Lecter's cell for the very first time.

Clarice had walked slowly up the hallway, habitually staying close to the far wall, keeping her eyes trained on the small circle of light from the flashlight, afraid to deviate, afraid to peer earnestly into the cells she was passing as she once had so long ago lest she see faces, like ghosts from the past, peering back at her through the bars. She had approached Dr. Lecter's former cell and she noticed that for some odd reason, the chair she had occupied the first time all those years ago was still sitting forlornly in front of the abandoned cell as if awaiting her return. She had shone her light into his cell through the bullet proof glass and slowly neared it. As she did, she had flashed back to the vision of Dr. Lecter as she had seen him that very first time, standing rigidly straight, hands cupped at his sides, his crystal eyes watching her slightest movement as she came into his line of vision, a faint smile playing across his lips and in that moment, Clarice Starling had caught her breath and closed her eyes to will the image away.

Inside his cell she had found nothing of use and she remembered now how the homeless man with the long straggly white hair and matted beard had literally nearly given her a heart attack. She had been standing in the midst of Dr. Lecter's cell, shining her meager light about and finding nothing of his former personal belongings left. She had closed her eyes briefly to connect with the Good Doctor and she had been able to sense him in the room with her. In her mind she had seen him smile in that demonic yet restrained style of his and reach his hand out to touch her. Then she had realized that she could actually hear the shuffle of feet as he came closer and could hear his breathing. Her eyes had snapped open, hand resting on her gun, and she had spun around shining the flashlight into the ancient face of the homeless man. He had asked if she was Jesus Christ and she had calmly and politely replied no, she was not. Clarice had fled the hospital and had gulped for breath once she'd returned to the outside world, her emotions at reliving her first encounter with Hannibal Lecter threatening to overtake her.

Seth Williams now turned to look at her and wondered about all of the emotions and thoughts that must surely be swirling through Clarice Starling's head right now. He had never met Dr. Lecter personally nor had he ever set foot into the Baltimore hospital but quiet conversations with Clarice had painted a fairly decent picture within his mind of their encounters here. He wondered if she really intended to step foot into the building but then he shook his head. Knowing Clarice like he did, he knew she was tough and there was not much that would deter her once her mind was set on something.

Clarice felt his eyes on her and she glanced in Seth's direction. He could read the apprehension in her eyes and smiled gently.

"Come on, let's check it out," he said. "You can give me the grand tour." He paused. "You know, we could probably make a killing if we turned this place into a tourist attraction. I can see it now, 'Hannibal Land.'"

Clarice chuckled dryly and was so delighted that Seth had agreed to come with her. They exited the car, Clarice pulled two flashlights from the trunk, and she tossed one to him. She glanced over at the trailer of the groundskeeper but saw no sign of him. She pondered knocking on his door and seeing if he had any information but then she remembered when she had been here the last time how little help he had been and she decided against it.

The two agents entered the building and were hit by a musty, ancient smell and it took them a moment to get used to it. They stood still just inside the door and listened. Clarice closed her eyes and took a deep breath, searching for any sense of a disturbance within the building but neither agent felt anything. Clarice turned and headed for the stairs with Seth immediately trailing her.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter removed the needle from Joshua Graham's arm and watched as the boy's eyes rolled back up into his head and the lids closed slowly. He smiled and roughly pulled the thick band of rubber from around the boy's arm with a snap, dropping both the needle and the band to the ground. Dr. Lecter had just injected 500mg of heroin into Joshua's bloodstream which was more than double the lethal dose for a non-tolerant individual. He assumed the boy was not a drug addict like his father and he knew the dose should kill Joshua within a few minutes.

He had heard Clarice Starling's Mustang pull into the parking lot and had rushed to finish his plans. He now could hear two sets of feet on the concrete stairs that led down into the dungeon and his heart suddenly skipped a beat at the possibility of exchanging niceties with Clarice again; he had not actually had a two way conversation with her since Paul Krendler's dinner party five years ago.

He pulled the .45 out of the waistband of his pants, stood in the open door to Will's cell, and pointed the gun directly in Will's direction. He did not go into the cell in case Clarice made it down the stairs before he had the chance to pull the trigger; she would not be able to see Will from her vantage point and he preferred to keep it that way for the time being. Will Graham was unbelievably still alive, albeit barely, and Dr. Lecter could not take the chance that he might actually live.

'Damn bastard just will not die,' he thought grimly.

Dr. Lecter raised the gun to shoulder level and as he did, Clarice Starling ran into the hallway, her own gun held out in front of her with both hands and pointed it at Dr. Lecter. Behind her Seth Williams trotted in, his gun drawn as well, and he gasped at the sight of Joshua Graham strapped to the chair, head lolled back, eyes closed. Clarice gulped at the sight of Hannibal Lecter. He might have been visiting her regularly at night but she had not seen him since he had pinned her against the refrigerator. In that instant, a thousand emotions rushed through her; hate, anger, lust, fear, joy, love, and more, each one barely registering in her heart as they swirled through her. She was torn between her utter hatred for him and her caring for him and she wondered, not for the first time and probably not for the last time, how it was possible to both love and hate someone equally intensely. She loved him as she would love a father. She loved him for assisting her, for caring for her, and for teaching her. And she hated him. She hated him for abusing her trust, for his horrendous crimes, and for taking Will away from her. All these thoughts ran through Clarice Starling's mind within a matter of seconds and she blinked suddenly to refocus on the figure before her.

Dr. Lecter gazed patiently at her with his intense blue eyes, a slight smile played at the corners of his mouth, as if he could read her every thought. She supposed he almost could, he had always seemed to be able to. Clarice Starling had never been able to hide from Dr. Lecter, neither physically nor emotionally.

"Hello Clarice," Dr. Lecter breathed, drawing out the 's' sound on the ending c as he always did. "Ironic reunion don't you think?"

He continued to hold the gun straight out in front of him, pointing into the cell although from her vantage point further up the hallway, Clarice could not see into the farthest cell to see whom he was aiming at but she could guess. Her gaze flitted to the individual strapped into the wooden chair and she decided that must be Joshua Graham. Then almost instantly, she could make out the resemblance to Will and she knew for a certainty that is who he was. That meant Will must be in the cell. That meant Dr. Lecter must be pointing the gun at Will. Fleetingly, she wondered why she had not heard Will call out to her yet. Behind her, Seth pointed his gun at Dr. Lecter as well but followed Clarice's lead. He watched them regard one another and the intensity between them was electric.

"Put it down, Doctor," she stated calmly and was pleasantly surprised to hear no quiver in her voice as her eyes moved back to regard Dr. Lecter. "Don't make this hard, just put the gun down."

Dr. Lecter regarded her calmly for a moment. "Would you kill me Clarice?" He mused softly.

"To protect a victim, if I had to, yes," she answered instantly and unwaiveringly, her gun remaining trained on him.

"Ah yes," Dr. Lecter nodded slowly. "If you could save just one then your nights would be silent, eh Clarice?"

She knew he was trying to buy time, he was trying to distract her. "Put the gun down, Doctor."

"But Will is more than a mere 'victim' isn't he? He is your lover," Dr. Lecter smiled but a trace of sadness edged onto his face. "This has become personal for you Clarice."

'As it has for you Doctor,' she thought but did not voice it. Clarice shifted her weight from foot to foot and butterflies began to swarm within her stomach. He was wasting time; he was playing with her as a cat would play with a mouse before ripping its head off and devouring it whole. She slowly slid forward two steps.

"With me every victim is personal," Clarice replied quietly and paused. "You of all people should know that about me."

"Ah yes," Dr. Lecter said again. For him, there was only her in the room, all else was shadows and dust, there was only her; the smell of her, the sound of her, the look of her. "Now you speak of our past Clarice," he paused and smiled playfully at her. "But what of our future?"

"All I care about right now is the present, Dr. Lecter. This is the last time I will ask you to drop the gun," she said, and sounded more authoritative than she felt.

Clarice Starling did not want to shoot him and she knew that he knew that. Her eyes slid to Josh Graham and she could not tell if he was breathing. Additionally, assuming that Will was the one that Dr. Lecter was pointing the gun at, God only knew what condition he was in considering she had yet to hear him. She needed to resolve this now.

Inwardly Dr. Lecter cursed his delay at not having shot Will sooner. Now he was in a difficult position. Clarice held a gun pointed directly at him and he knew that she had made her choice, she had chosen Will over him and she would shoot him, albeit reluctantly but still, she would shoot him to protect Will. Dr. Lecter knew that even if he managed to cock and fire the gun before Clarice shot him, there was still a chance that his shot at Will would miss. Still, he knew what he had to do. This is what he had planned for and the moment of truth had arrived. Dr. Lecter smiled gently at Clarice and turned his head to look at Will.

"Dr. Lecter, don't," Clarice yelled, the desperation beginning to edge into her voice.

He ignored her, training the gun at Will's head.

"Dr. Lecter it doesn't have to be like this," Clarice pleaded but cocked her gun anyway. "Don't make me shoot you."

Dr. Lecter glanced back at Clarice and smiled again. It was a hauntingly sad smile.

"Clarice," was all he whispered.

Dr. Lecter turned his head back to Will and cocked the gun. In that instant, before he could get any shots off himself, Clarice Starling pulled her trigger and shot Dr. Lecter three times, two directly in the center of his chest and one in his right shoulder, and each report of the gun was like a stake pounding into her heart.

Dr. Lecter groaned, clutched his chest, and fell heavily to the stone floor, the gun clattering across the ground. Clarice moved to Dr. Lecter's side, gun still outstretched, knelt down and felt for a pulse. It was there, it was weak, but it was there. Seth rushed to Joshua Graham and felt for a pulse as well. He was barely able to make one out and the boy's breathing was shallow and labored. He glanced down and saw the hypodermic needle and the band of rubber on the floor next to the chair and shook his head. He began to loosen the boy's limbs. Clarice picked up the gun Dr. Lecter had held and recognized it as Will's. She holstered her own gun, put his in the waistband of her pants, and whirled around to gaze into the cell.

Clarice gasped and could not find her breath. She put her right hand over her mouth and her eyes widened in horror.

"Oh sweet Jesus," she breathed at last although her mind did not register just how apropos the term was

Will Graham had been crucified and the resemblance to every crucifix Clarice had ever seen was uncanny. He hung from a homemade, makeshift cross that was propped against the far wall of the cell and he was clad only in his boxer shorts. There was a nail through each wrist and one in each foot to keep him impaled to his cross. Blood dribbled slowly from each wound and pooled on the ground below. His head hung down so that his chin rested against his chest and his face was cut, bloodied, and swollen. Clarice saw bruising and swelling through his chest and decided he probably had at least one broken rib. Tacked to the cross above Will's head was a crude sign that read; "Will Graham, Savior of the FBI." Clarice turned her head slowly and looked at Seth who was also staring, slack-jawed, at the grisly sight in the cell.

"Call 911 right now!" she yelled as she bolted through the door of Will's cell.
To be continued. Please review!

Shattered: You are so sweet to say such nice things! Thank you so much for the wonderful review, I'm glad that I am keeping everyone guessing as to what's going to happen. And yes, there will at some point be a sequel that will fill in Zachary's background and more information on his early training with the GD. Any characters that survive this story will most likely show up in the sequel as well! As always, thank you for your continued support of this fic.

Kurt: Thank you for the review. I always appreciate your feedback. I'm pleased that you liked the Will/Josh conversation, after I posted it, I had second thoughts regarding some of it but I do think that ultimately it worked. Thanks as well for your continued reading and reviewing.

ducki: Thank you for reading and reviewing. Wow, med school huh? Good luck to you. And yes, this term is almost over, but then another one starts right up!

guber: Thanks for your great review! Again, I'm pleased that I'm keeping everyone guessing as to the outcome and, yes, I've probably debated killing each of the characters involved at least a dozen times but no word on who or who is not doing to die! Thanks for reading and reviewing.

troesnaja: Wow, thank you for all the reviews. I'm glad you are enjoying the story.

Morbid: LMAO to your review! I think that is the longest review I have ever received! I'm glad that you are pleased and yes, Josh is yours! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

DevilsQT: Yes, patience is a tough thing to learn but "I do believe we're making progress" (to borrow yet another line from the GD)!! Thank you loyal reader for your continued support.

Nan: LOL, yes, I'm afraid I've been packing way too much into the last few chapters but I hate to shorten chapters. I'm sure it's tough for all my short attention span followers to get through the long ones but oh well! I'm so pleased that you are enjoying the story. Yes perhaps Kendra did kill herself a bit quickly but she had been deeply depressed for a week (which I should have alluded to more). Thank you for pointing that out. And as always, thank you for your great reviews.

Kaitlyn: Wow, thank you so much. I think that is one of the nicest reviews I have ever received and I really do appreciate your nice comments. And no, I am not a follower of the whole Lecter/Clarice romance nonsense. While I must admit at times their relationship intrigues me I just do not like it when as you say they are thrown "implausibly" together romantically. I am glad you are enjoying the Will/Clarice angle. Thank you so much again for the wonderful review and thanks for reading.