Francesca drove this time, letting the boys fall asleep. She was energized now with the letter in her pocket. Hannibal slept in the passenger seat, but for a very short time. It was like he was waiting for the others to get into REM cycle before he opened his eyes again. "Hi," he smiled.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" Francesca smiled back and whispered.
"I wanted to get a chance to talk," Hannibal sat up a little.
Keeping her eyes and road, Francesca sighed, "About what?"
"Come on, Francesca, you know what I want to talk about," he wanted her to look at him, catch the glint in his eyes, but she wouldn't.
"John…" she hesitated. "It's been a long, long time. It's been over for awhile."
He nodded, "I know, but… I'm sorry."
"Sorry," Francesca shook her head, laughing. "You were right."
"You'll make some guy really happy."
She pursed her lips, "I hope. If I live long enough."
Hannibal watched her delicate hands flip on the turn signal. Her eyes were glazed over, twinkling in the lights. He finally said, "Don't talk about that."
"Oh, well…Might as well face it," Francesca came to a dark house. "This is the place."
Flashback
Another two months went by after their second encounter. Hannibal and the guys had a week off after a mission and Hannibal thought they should take it off for once. He realized that he was in New York. Yes, New York. New York was near Massachusetts. Francesca lived in Massachusetts.
He decided to take a trip down there for a little entertainment. He said that he was going down to meet an old friend and the guys decided to join him, much to Hannibal's chagrin.
They arrived in Boston at ten o'clock at night. The other three slipped off to go drink Finding her apartment, Hannibal ran up the stairs, eager. It was a nice apartment complex despite the elevator being broken. When he reached her door, he hesitated before he knocked. There were no voices coming from inside, but he could here footsteps, like pacing. Hannibal knocked.
The door opened almost as soon as he lifted his hand from the door. Francesca stood before him in a robe. Her eyes widened as she said quickly, "John what are you ding here?"
"I was in the neighborhood," he stated the blatant lie. "I thought I'd drop by."
Francesca didn't speak, still a little surprised.
Hannibal lowered his voice, feeling a little shot down, "If this is a bad time I can go."
"No," she shook her head and stepped back. "Come in."
Entering the apartment, he glanced around. The ceilings were lofty in the living room, a tall staircase led to a second level. The views were spectacular that her thought he'd be able to see better from the balcony off the second floor landing. "Do you want anything to drink?" she asked. "I have soda, water, coffee, any type of alcohol you could think of," Francesca gave him a meek smile. She stepped into the kitchen which was adjoined to the living room.
Hannibal returned the smile, "I'll just have some coffee."
"So, what's going on? In the city again…" she started to make a new pot off coffee.
"You don't have to make anymore, I'll take the-" he began, watching her move slowly.
She cut him off, "Don't worry about it. I was going to need some more anyway."
"Thanks," he sat down slowly on a leather chair. "So, I got a week off, I was around, I thought I should come by and say hi." Hannibal rarely took the time he had off. He was normally on to the next mission. But this was different. He had someone to come home to… kind of.
Francesca looked up at him, "It was nice of you to think of me. The boys? How are they?"
"Oh they've been good. They're in town too," he cleared his throat, walking into the kitchen. "But I kinda just wanted to get away."
She didn't meet his gaze, "I can only imagine."
"So I thought that you'd be a good distraction," Hannibal smirked.
She grinned, "Yeah, I would be." She poured him a cup of coffee and then turned back to the living room. "Do you want to sit down, relax for a little bit?"
Hannibal followed her with an odd stare. "Sure." He sat down on the leather couch and looked at the coffee table. A little plastic thing gave the table a round corner.
Francesca saw him staring, "I've been baby proofing."
He gave her a surprised look.
"For Tommy's little girl," she reassured him. "They realized that baby is mine just as much as she is theirs."
They both laughed a little, Francesca relaxing a bit. She was definitely on edge. Hannibal was in her house at the exact wrong moment. She needed to beeline for the bathroom and take a peek but she just couldn't. Not with him here.
"You're excited then," he leaned back.
"So excited," she brushed her hair away from her face. "It'll be nice to get the family a little bigger. Currently we have three members," she smiled. "I'm really getting ahead of myself with all this crap," Francesca blushed and looked into her lap. "I need to- I'll be-" she tripped over her words as she rose. "I have to do something."
Hannibal put his cup down and stood up, "Do you want me to leave?"
"No. No!" Francesca tried to cover up her emotions. "No, that's not it."
"Are you sure?"
She paused, "Yeah, I've just been really distracted lately." She realized that if she wanted things to end there, she'd have to make a move. Before he could speak, Francesca kissed him gently and then a little more frivolously. She felt bad for having to trick him into this, but she knew there was a larger punishment for her.
Francesca would have to wait a long time before she could look in the bathroom.
End Flashback
Francesca asked Murdock for the key he had gotten so long ago from that house in Southbrook. She unlocked the front door to the almost antebellum styled house. The inside was dusty, unkempt, but strikingly beautiful. A large, grand staircase started right in the middle of the foyer. Francesca ran up them and gestured for the guys to follow.
They ended up in a large, young girl's room. The bedding was light pink, along with everything else, but there was an entire half of the room that was cleared away from pink and just full of equipment. Francesca smiled, "This was Granny's house."
"The operative word being 'was'," Face rolled his eyes.
"She passed ten years ago, left the house to me and Tommy. Tomtom handed it to me and now…" she went over to a cardboard table that had been set up. "I use it for work." She pressed her hand against a dresser, and yanked it open. "Will all of you spread out and do stuff?" Francesca felt their eyes pressed against her. Taking out the letter from her pocket and a microscope from the drawer, she went back to the table.
The guys all went about the room, inspecting every element. "Oh," Face looked down. "My Super-Secret Diary." He held up a little locked book. "Got the key, Francesca."
Francesca began to set up the microscope, smirking, "The key is in the music box."
"I wanna hear this," B.A. went over to meet Face.
Rolling her eyes, she continued to look for the microdots.
Face forced open the lock and turned to a random page, "May 6th, 1997: Prom is tomorrow. Kara and I are ditching and going into the city. We're going to see if we can pass for twenty-one. I got a push up bra especially for the occasion. Prom is waste of time. Let's go where the big boys are." They all hooted, except for Hannibal who watched Francesca with a wide grin.
"Read the next one," she didn't look up from the eyepiece. "That'll give you something to laugh at."
"May 8th, 1997: Drum roll—I am no longer a virgin. Thank you, God. Kara and I snuck into this nightclub with ease. I don't really remember how I got there, but the next thing I knew I was on my back in a hotel bed. This guy-" Face read on with wide eyes. Hannibal had joined the circle, confused.
"Tore off my clothes with his teeth and ravaged me like a black stallion at sunset." Francesca finished the sentence and looked over at them.
All four men stared at her in shock. Francesca gave them a smile, "I know. I was a naughty girl. I found a microdot by the way."
None of them paid attention, looking back in the book. "He was twenty-three and I think his name was Troy. Like the ancient city. Yum."
"I found a microdot," Francesca snapped at them, laughing. "Come on, get out of my teenage fantasies."
Hannibal took the book and threw it across the room, "Anyway…"
Francesca cleared her throat, "By the way, that diary isn't mine."
"What?" Face groaned. "You're kidding me!"
"No, I'm not," she looked back into the microscope. "Anyway… Tickets are waiting for you. Rio this time of year is perfect. Meet me at the song palace… The deal is going down in a gem. Yours."
"So a love interest…" Murdock hooted.
"What's the song palace?" B.A. smirked.
Hannibal frowned, trying to think, "It's the song… The Copacabana Palace…"
"Exactly and the gem is…" Francesca began.
"The Crystal Room," they said in unison.