A/N : I am for sure rating this chapter as M. Just be advised, there is a lot of gore in this one, but it will be nice to see the Doctor in action. Keep reading and as always, leave a review! Thank you to each and every one of you that has read this story so far. I appreciate all of you.

Chapter 14

Hannibal, always the gentlemen, led Clarice around the beautiful city. She enjoyed watching the sunlight play on his eyes. They were especially bright today, she loved how animated he was explaining the city and its various historical landmarks to her. He seemed….happy. But she was not fooled either. He was always alert, very aware of his surroundings, and always armed. She admired him for his skills. He caught her glancing at him.

"Something wrong my dear?"

"No. Just thinking is all."

"Oh? Anything you care to share?"

She grinned, "No."

He furrowed a brow at her but she just continued smiling.

After a time of touring the town they drove back home. It was time for the second treatment. Clarice braced herself for what she might see and Hannibal always did what he could to ease the experience. She laid on the bed and he lit 5 candles around the room and dimmed the lights.

After, He gathered syringes, needles, and the appropriate drugs for use. She was ready. She laid on the bed and looked over to him as he was prepping everything.

"Hannibal?"

"Yes?" He glanced over and saw her with a sad expression.

"What drove you to test these drugs on yourself?"

"There were memories I had locked away that were fuzzy. I couldn't make out the details and so I did a lot of research during my time in medical school. It took some adjustments, but I learned."

"Are those locked rooms what inspired you to build your memory palace?"

"Yes. I wanted full control of what I want and do not want to see. I wanted to be in control of my mind."

"Is that even possible to be in full control?"

He smiled, "No unfortunately not. Sometimes our emotions rule us."

"When was the last time you let your emotions rule you?"

He chuckled, "Probably the day I decided to risk my freedom for a game of cat and mouse with you my dear."

"I would have found you, I was close."

"After the letter?"

"Yes."

"I must admit that Mason was quite the nuisance in our little game."

"So you fed him to the pigs?"

"I find it rather fitting. He lived his life as a child molesting pig only to die groveling in the dirt and blood eaten by pigs."

He turned to prep her skin for the injection. She looked him in the eyes, "Oh yes. Sounds very poetic."

He smiled, "Are you ready?"

"What are you going to do while I sleep Doctor?"

"Doctor now? What happened to Hannibal?"

"You are my Doctor now aren't you? And please don't avoid the question, I know you noticed."

"Noticed what Clarice? You are going to have to be more specific."

"The car that followed us here. Sure they made a few turns we didn't and stayed about 4 cars behind. But I am sure it was those two men from the market today."

"Oh Clarice, don't worry about that, just focus on this treatment."

"So you did notice."

"Yes."

"And?"

"Nothing Clarice, Just going to have them over for dinner." His eyes grew dark and he stuck the needle in her arm. Within a few moments she was sound asleep. She grabbed his arm as his turned to walk away and he glanced back at her sleeping form. He took her hand in his and kissed the back of it gently.

"Not to worry my dear, I will not let any harm come to the walls of your palace while you construct it. These naughty boys must be taught a lesson."

Hannibal turned around and shut the door. Now that Clarice was sound asleep he could focus on the location of the men. It was as if he could almost sense their presence. Hannibal turned off all the lights except for the one in the kitchen. He sat in the dark chair in the corner and waited patiently. He would have some fun and some time to play.

Outside the luxurious house of Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling were Johnny and Edward. Only this time, they brought some extra hands. Two other men had come with them. Carlos and Tyson whom they met while in prison. They were good friends all part of the same group. All of them had matching tattoos on their right shoulders. The group had known each other for about 5 years now. Edward was the unofficial leader of the rag tag bunch. He gave the briefing of the situation.

"Two people occupy this home. An older man and a younger woman and they are loaded. This could be the big haul that gets us out of this damn place."

Carlos spoke up, "Only Two? Why did you need us? You made it sound like we were going up against an army." Carlos and Tyson chuckled.

Johnny stepped forward, "The old man spooked him. Said he had obviously had some former training and experience."

Tyson gave a puzzled look, "Training? Are you talking like military or a fucking cop?"

Edward spoke up, "No you fool! I ain't scared of no fucking cop. This man was different. You two should be thankful for my generosity. You get part of the riches."

Carlos rolled his eyes. "Fine, what's the plan?"

Edward looked at the group. Carlos was the biggest, about 250 lbs of solid muscle. Weight lifting was always his go to. Tyson was tall about 6'0 with a wiry strength in his arms. Johnny was toned but not as strong as the other two.

Edward spoke, "Everyone locked and loaded?"

They all held up their guns a Taurus Judge 410. The name of their group was The Judge and all the tattoos resembled the small hand canon.

"Perfect! Carlos and Tyson you are with me. Johnny you take the girl upstairs."

Carlos retaliated, "Why does that loser get to have all the fun with the woman?"

"Silence! We get our way and we all get to have fun with her. Johnny you go in first, we will follow close behind, I am going into the garage to disable the vehicle so they can't escape. Carlos, you head in the house and find the old man. Tyson, you double around back make sure they can't get out of the house.

They all nodded and split up. That was of course the last time they would see each other alive.

Carlos made his way around the house and picked the lock. Of course it was always a 50/50 shot. Alarm? Yes? No?

Click

Carlos had a devilish grin. No. He stepped inside and took his time constantly hiding in the shadows. He could hear humming coming from the kitchen. He raised his gun and approached carefully. He noticed Hannibal peacefully chopping vegetables in a very neat arrangement. Hannibal grabbed a small hand towel and through it over his shoulder and disappeared out of Carlos's view somewhere to the left. Carlos approached the door ready to fire and as he stepped over the threshold he was met with a sharp knife at his wrist. Hannibal drug the knife across his wrist and severed the tendons and ligaments. Carlos immediately dropped the gun and tried screaming but Hannibal was at his back with the cloth smothering him in A mixture of acetone and bleach the perfect remedy for homemade chloroform. Carlos thrashed about but his body quickly grew limp in Hannibal's arms.

"One down, three to go."

Hannibal had a keen sense of smell, of course the foul odor these men left were a little too obvious and hard to miss even in such a big house. He heard a noise in the garage next and smiled. This is going to be real fun. He picked up a large butcher's knife and headed in the direction of the noise. Edward was crouched under the car stabbing holes in the tires. He heard the garage door open and the noise frightened him and he jumped back. But there was no one there. Tyson was waiting out by the back door and found the noise suspicious.

"What the fuck? I thought Edward was supposed the be taking care of the car…" he walked around to the garage entrance. "Edward what the fuck are you doing?" But when he came around to the entrance of the garage, Edward was no where to be found. Tyson walked around the car and saw Edward's lifeless body on the ground, but the head was no where to be found.

He backed up shaking, "What….the….fuck...I….I…gotta….g.gget out of here."

"A little too late for that, came a voice from behind." Tyson turned around and pointed the gun at Hannibal.

"Who in the hell are you?"

Hannibal tilted his head, "Now you are going to break into my house and demand to know who I am? It really doesn't matter at this point does it? All you need to know now is that you broke into the wrong house."

Tyson backed up while Hannibal stepped forward.

"Stay back or I will shoot."

Hannibal smiled, "No, you won't. You've already pissed yourself. I believe you are too frightened to do much of anything anymore."

Tyson kept stepping backwards until he tripped and fell over Edward's body. Hannibal had attacked then. Slicing his throat wide open.

"That should leave just one more."

Johnny was searching for Clarice, he made it into the house through the second floor window. He walked around and after about the third room, found the object of his search, Clarice Starling. Clarice was still lying in the bed sound asleep with the candles lighting the room. Johnny then took better notice of her sleek, toned, feminine form. He approached her slowly and glanced over in the corner to see a few medicinal bottles and some syringes.

"What the fuck….has she been drugged?" He touched her arm and shook her a bit but got no response. "What kind of shit is this?" He smiled, "Oh well, this makes the next step a little easier, he reached down to the zipper of his pants and started to undo them when a knife slid between his legs and sliced his member right up the middle. He started to scream, and then he felt the tiniest prick in his neck.

Then all faded to black.

Johnny woke up groggy. It took him a few minutes to collect his surroundings. He had a dark pillow case over his head and he couldn't see anything. His mouth was duck taped shut and his hands were bound behind his back. His chest and legs had been bound to a chair that he was sitting in. He mumbled and screamed as much as he could, but he couldn't make a sound. Then suddenly someone jerked the pillowcase off of his head. Then he laid eyes on the full dining table. There was a piece of meat laying on the center piece with a familiar tattoo on it. The tattoo of a gun. On top of the slab of meat with a spike going in from the base of the neck through the mouth was Edward's head. Johnny screamed and screamed, but the duck tape muffled most of it. When Hannibal came up and ripped it off, Johnny threw up all over his own lap. Hannibal came around to the other side of the table and had the most pleasant smile on his face. It was as if he was setting up a lovely dinner for a friend. He was dressed in a black suit, black under shirt, and crimson red tie.

"Good evening."

"W..w.w.what…..tt.tt.thee fuck is going on????"

"Well, I suppose I could catch you up, after all, you have been asleep for about 5 hours now. You and your three friends, which parts of them all lay before you, broke into our house."

"Who the fuck are you????"

"That my dear boy is none of your concern. Are there any others that were with you or is there anyone else who knows you are here? Don't lie to me or I will know."

"N..n.no."

"Good." Hannibal smiled.

"Why did you leave me alive?"

Hannibal stood upright and looked down on Johnny, "You have all committed crimes this evening that is true, but you committed the worst sin of them all. That is why I only see it fitting that you get special attention."

"What sin are you talking about, you are fucked up man!"

"So I've been told. Your biggest crime tonight was that you touched her."

"What?"

"You touched her flesh, that I'm afraid you are going to have to pay dearly for. You will not receive a quick death like the others. No, you and I are gonna have some fun." Hannibal smiled.