Evolution

Chapter 2

"Starling"

"Good evening, Clarice"

"Good evening, Dr Lecter"

"And how are you my dear?" Did he sound warmer than usual?

"Well thanks. And since no new letters have arrived with promiscuous drawings, the dust does seem to have settled"

"Am I to understand that your co-workers are made uncomfortable by these little missives?"

"Oh, don't give me that. You know that they are. That's why you send them"

A soft chuckle was her only answer

"Plus, they're still making me see the bureau psychologist"

"Oh my, that does sound like fun"

"She told me I might as well talk to her, as I wasn't going to find anyone better at it than her, to which I almost replied 'wanna bet?'"

His deep belly laugh pulled a smile from her as well. She had never heard him laugh before and it gave her a warm feeling in her belly.

"Oh, my dear, I am flattered" Dr Lecter replied wiping his eyes "you are very candid for a recorded call"

Clarice was sitting in the living room of her duplex. Ardelia went out dancing by Clarice has brushed her off. It was the second Saturday in a row that Hannibal Lecter had called her at the duplex. Clarice was quiet for a bit before answering.

"Actually, it's not being recorded, I never told Mr Crawford about your last call"

"Hmmm, is that so, and why is that my little Starling?"

When she stayed quite a bit longer than usual, he urged

"Make an effort to answer now my dear"

"For one, Mr Crawford will almost certainly insist that I move. He's already tried to get me to completely change my habits after your first call to the cafe. And secondly, I don't want them to arrest you"

"I see. Thank you, Clarice. I find your concern touching. I won't keep you longer. Have a pleasant evening my dear"

"Thank you, Dr Lecter. Good night"

"Good night, Clarice"

"Listen I know you don't much like to club scene, but I refuse to leave you home alone tonight. You are turning into a hermit. You are coming with me, and that is final" Ardelia said as she made her way to her side of the duplex.

Clarice knew there wasn't a reasonable excuse she could give to put Ardelia off. 'I'm want to stay home in the hope that Dr Lecter calls' is definitely not going to fly.

She drags her feet getting ready and is already dreading the night. She knows what is going to happen. Ardelia will have a blast dancing with every guy that asks her, while she, Clarice, will nurse a double shot of whiskey at the bar and concentrating very hard on giving off strong 'Fuck off' vibes all night. The fact that she could miss a call from Dr Lecter upset her far more than she thought was healthy.

You don't even know that he is going to call. Will you be sitting watching the phone all night like a love-sick teenager? Fuck

Dr Lecter got up just as the eastern horizon started getting a pinkish blush. 9pm for Clarice meant 4am for him. He also needed about an hour to set-up all the re-routings for his call. She had said that she didn't report him phoning her home phone but he wasn't taking any chances when it came to his hard-won freedom. The dial-tone came exactly on the hour and he grinned with pleasure. Punctuality was after all an important component of good manners.

The phone rang.

7times.

8times.

9times.

10times.

When the answering machine picked up, he hung up. It was a Saturday night after all and she was a vibrant and beautiful young woman. She was probably out with her roommate and some friends. A stab of pain. Perhaps she is on a date? The rest of Dr Lecter's day passed in a rather unsatisfactory gloom.

When Clarice got home, and saw the missed call recorded on her answering machine, she felt a deep stab of disappointment laced with a bit of anxiousness. She listened to message, but the caller had hung-up as soon as the recoding began. Of course he did. She already knew that she wasn't going to get a very restful night. Her Sunday would pass in a dark gloom.

"Starling" Clarice answered on the first ring.

"Good evening, Clarice"

"Good evening, Dr Lecter. I want to apologise for last week. Ardelia dragged me out dancing with her and there wasn't a way I could put her off without sounding suspicious." She rushed to say before he could interrupt her. The slight anxiousness he detected soothed him; it was clear she didn't mean to miss a call from him and he felt a warm little kernel in his chest growing at the thought.

"That's no bother my dear. It is healthy to have friends that care for you?"

"I suppose. Do you have some? Friends I mean?"

"Ah, I'm afraid my lifestyle isn't very conducive to forming friendships"

"I'm sorry"

"Your concern for my wellbeing is touching my dear. Not to worry, I can entertain myself well enough. But tell me, how are you sleeping these days?"

"Um, well that usually depends"

"On what?"

"Well, I generally sleep very well on Saturday nights. Not so much last week though"

"Ah, I see. You flatter me. Would that I could give you a good night's rest every night"

There was only quiet over the line.

"Have I made you blush, my dear Agent Starling?"

"No" she answered softly

"Hmmm, how lovely. Please don't start lying to me now my dear. You were doing so well"

There was again silence on the other side of the line

"Well on that interesting note, I think I'll say goodbye. Good night, agent Starling. May you sleep well"

"Thank you, goodnight, Dr Lecter"

Clarice reflected that it didn't even have to be a very long conversation for her to feel lighter.

Clarice arrives home late and is just putting her things down in the kitchen when her phone rings.

"Starling"

"I see congratulations are again in order Special Agent Starling"

"Dr Lecter" she answered and he could hear the exhaustion in her voice, signing as she sits down "Yes and no"

"Tell me"

And so, she does. How she connected the dots. How she entered the cult and convinced the leader to let all the children leave. How all the adults were rounded up. It had been one hell of an eventful week.

"But our Mr Grieves escaped" Dr Lecter stated.

"Yes" answered Clarice tiredly, running a hand down her face. The leaded did indeed slip through the net the FBI had spun for him.

"He's going to come for you"

The line was quiet for so long Dr Lecter wondered if the line got disconnected

"Clarice?"

"Yes. I know" she answered.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes" she answered much more strongly "yeah I am"

"Good" he answers "you have a good evening"

"Thank you, Dr Lecter" she answers and before she could stop herself added "it was good to talk to you"

"Hmmm, goodnight Special Agent Starling"

"Goodnight Dr Lecter"

Clarice stood looking at the phone in her hand. She did feel better after talking with Dr Lecter. He didn't tell her anything she didn't already know but hearing him confirm it helped to order her thoughts. Grieves will be coming for her.

"Fuck" she says holding her head and feeling the stickiness under her hand. Her head was pounding fit to burst. She had hit the ground hard. Grieves had ambushed her on her morning run and managed to whack her with a tree branch. She was ready for him and having ducked, received only a glancing blow. She had pulled her gun and shot him three times before he had even finished his swing. Now she was flat on her back, trying to catch her breath.

"Here, let me look" a very familiar voice says as he cradles her head in his hands, angling her head slightly so he could inspect the wound.

Her vision was a bit blurry but there was no mistaking the man kneeling over her body. Her heart was still racing and adrenaline still coursed through her bloodstream but she wasn't afraid. Not of him.

"This will require sutures and I cannot imagine that you do not have a concussion. Here, hold this" he takes her hand to hold his clean handkerchief to her freely bleeding forehead and she meekly complies.

"Look at me" he says in a voice that brooks no argument.

Clarice looks into the eyes of Dr Lecter as he checks her pupil size. He wordlessly holds up a finger in front of her and she follows it with her eyes without being told to.

"Good" he mumbles more to himself than to her.

Suddenly the scene struck Clarice as hilarious. The renowned Dr Hannibal Lecter crouching in the mud in what must surely be a very expensive suit.

"What is so amusing Agent Starling?" he asks narrowing his eyes at her

"You're ruining your suit crouching in the mud like this" she tells him grinning foolishly.

"Very cavalier Agent Starling. I am very displeased with you at the moment and so I won't make light of the matter if I were you. Tell me, at what point exactly did offering yourself up as bait seem like a good idea hmmm? I have more than half a mind to take you with me right now."

The laughter dies in her throat and she turns solemn. Closing her eyes, she leans more into his hand still cradling her head. She had used herself as bait to draw Grieves out and it almost went horribly wrong. She knows now that he knows.

"We can't do that" she answers quietly and her tone implies a deeper longing.

"No, I suppose not" he answers pensively as he gently rubs his thumb over her cheek "I expect you to submit quietly to any and all tests the EMT's and physicians deem necessary. Do I make myself clear?"

Clarice could hear how serious he was and started to nod only to wince in pain

"Yes Doctor"

"Hmmm. When you phone this in, I would appreciate it if you could delay informing them of my presence for 10 minutes"

"Actually, I have been informed by my doctor that I have a concussion. So, I expect my memory will be a bit shoddy"

He leans in and places a soft kiss on her forehead

"Keep pressure on this till they arrive" and with that he gets to his feet.

Clarice closes her eyes as a wave of nausea hit her. When she has fought it down, and opens her eyes again, as expected ,Dr Lecter is gone. If not for his handkerchief that she is still pressing to her forehead as she digs in her pocket for her phone, she would almost have believed that she did indeed hallucinate him.

The physician in the ER did indeed order her an MRI and she went without a fuss. Her wound had been cleaned, sutured and bandaged. The EMT in the ambulance had offered to discard the handkerchief for her, it had been soaked with blood, but she had just stuck it in her pocket. No way was she giving up that handkerchief.

Not only was the renewed attention from the press unwelcome, but the attitude of Paul Krendler became almost unbearable. He had tried to get her kicked-off VICAP but the agent in charge of the task-force, Cooper, had defended her and refused to dismiss her. Clarice was left feeling very unsettled. Her career felt like a fight for every single step. None of her male colleagues had to endure nearly as much as she did. It was really starting to wear her down. She found the fact that the man who treated her with the most respect and kindness, was an escaped cannibalistic serial killer highly ironic.