Chapter 21

The day had finally arrived, at last Will could have his revenge, surrounded by a few members of the FBI, a select few people from Lady Murasaki that she had hand picked, and Ardelia Mapp bound to a chair in the middle of that large open room. The house stood off to itself in the distance away from any prying eyes.

It was surrounded by large palm trees and bushes. The ground was a mixture of sand and dirt. Hannibal and Clarice laid quietly waiting for their opportunity. Clarice was on her stomach, her eye was looking through the scope of the military grade sniper rifle she cradled in her arms.

"Five men, plus Will, and Ardelia tied to a chair…I see her."

Hannibal took a deep breath in and exhaled, "Be ready for anything my dear, more of them may show. I am counting on you to watch my back in this. Understand?"

"I will not falter, I will cover you, I promise. Just know that once you enter the house my field of view will be limited. Be careful H."

Hannibal nodded and snuck around the long way to the side of the building. He was stealthy and cautious in his approach. He snuck up behind an old black van that was in the driveway and waited as one of the men approached, circling the facility. When the man got close, Hannibal reached out and grabbed him, covering the man's mouth with his hand and slicing his throat. He gently guided the body to the ground when another guard came around the corner, now it was Clarice's turn. She aimed carefully and fired, the silencer doing its job by muffling the sound of the gunfire. Then the man hit the ground.

That makes two down.

Hannibal walked around the van staying low to the ground and slashing the tires. Then he came up to the side of the building. Hannibal picked up a rock and threw it against the glass window and waited. Another man approached this time and raised the glass window, gun armed at the ready. Once his weapon peered through the window, Hannibal grabbed a hold of the barrel and pulled down sharply dragging the man along, cutting him with his blade in the process.

Too much noise. Another man came around the side of the house, gun aimed at Lecter, and began shouting orders. Hannibal raised his hands in mock surrender. The man approached slowly and stood behind Hannibal, Clarice was unable to fire her weapon, but she trusted Hannibal to make the right move.

Hannibal held his hands high and placed them on the back of his head and began to kneel , that was the only opening Clarice Starling needed as she fired her gun. The bullet came soaring over Dr. Lecter's head and into the chest of the man holding the gun.

Three down.

Hannibal climbed in the house through the window and Clarice waited, looking through the scope. Her ears picked up the sound of a branch snapping nearby and she turned in time to catch a man coming at her with a sword dressed in a black suit. Clearly not FBI and not American, Starling thought. Then it must be a trap. She needed to go to Hannibal. The man brought the sword down hard and fast with a quick slash. Starling rolled out of the way and pulled out her trusty .45 colt from her hip and fired. Unfortunately there was no silencer on this gun. But that makes four men down now.

Hannibal heard the gunfire and froze in his steps, That sounded like Clarice's gun. I need to get back to her quickly.

He came around the corner of the kitchen and found Will Graham standing next to the chair that Ardelia was bound to. Will held two guns, one aimed at Ardelia and one aimed at Hannibal.

"Dr. Lecter, it's been too long. Glad you made it here safely. Hope the gentlemen outside didn't give you too much trouble. Although it would appear that your wife is in danger now."

"You know Will, I wanted to cut out your heart and have that for dinner, because I used to admire your bravery. But now that I am here looking at you. You are not a brave man. You are just a shell, an empty vessel. No part fit for eating."

"Sorry to have disappointed you Doc. But, if it's all the same to you, I still have one more surprise for you before we begin the last supper of Hannibal Lecter."

Hannibal turned his head a fraction and then heard the front door burst open. His heart sank. Clarice Starling was being brought in with a knife to her throat. At the other end of the knife was Lady Murasaki.

Hannibal stood in shock, "Let her go My Lady she has nothing to do with this."

Lady Murasaki had a sad look on her face, "You should be proud Hannibal, it took four of my men to bring her down. Four. She killed three. She is involved in all of this my dear Hannibal. She will die here with you."

Hannibal held up his knife and tossed it across the floor where it came to rest at Will Graham's feet.

"I am not a foolish man, I know what you both want, you want me to suffer in some unimaginable way before bringing about my demise correct? Then kill me. But let Clarice and Miss Mapp go free. Neither of them have any hand in this and it has all been me. Come now My Lady, I know you didn't come here to kill the innocent in this. So take out the monster instead."

Will scoffed, "Agent Starling will die with you, as she deserves. At this point she is just as guilty as you."

Hannibal stared right at Clarice, "She was drugged."

"What?"

"Drugged, the night after Mason Verger's she was in my care and drugged. She has been under my influence ever since."

Clarice spoke up, "That is not true! Hannibal, what are you doing?"

"Silence Clarice! You know nothing."

Clarice fought back the tears at his outburst and Lady Murasaki chimed in, "Tsk, tsk, tsk….such love, such affection. I would not have thought that to be possible from you Hannibal. She must be so special."

Hannibal tossed ideas in his head over and over, "Then free Ardelia in exchange for my life."

Will smiled and thought on it for a moment, "Alright deal."

He moved to untie her and then pushed her out of the chair, "Go on Miss Mapp, your services are no longer required."

Ardelia ran across the room to Hannibal who gently pushed her behind him.

Will brought his gun back up to face Hannibal, "You were wrong about a couple of things Doc. One, it was Lady Murasaki's idea to cover the grounds. It was also her thought to be directly involved in this because she knew it would make you hesitate. She gave your girl a lot more respect then I ever did. And two, I don't want to see you suffer, I just want you dead. Now let's see if you really do have a heart."

Will fired his gun and the bullet went straight into Hannibal's chest. Clarice screamed and Ardelia stood in shock. Hannibal's body hit the floor with a thud. He reached up to grab Ardelia's arm and she crouched down on the ground beside him keeping pressure on the wound. Tears streaming down her face. Hannibal pulled her in closely whispering in her ear.

Will and Lady Murasaki were preoccupied with a hysterical Clarice. She grabbed the knife and twisted Lady Murasaki's arm slamming her against the door. Will turned his gun towards her.

Hannibal strained to speak to Ardelia, "G.g.g…gun…r..r.rright….pocket."

Mapp unzipped his jacket and found the gun on the right inside pocket, then she understood. She grabbed the gun and fired it at Will. The bullet entered his shoulder and he dropped the gun.

He turned in a fit of rage, "You fucking bitch!"

He ran at her and Ardelia fired again, but Will still kept coming forward.

Hannibal, half conscious on the ground reached out and grabbed Will's ankle pulling him down to the ground as he climbed on top of him biting his neck. Tearing his flesh with his teeth and ripping out a large chunk of his neck in the process. Will screamed.

Clarice ran over to Ardelia and Hannibal. She pulled Hannibal off of Will and held him close. Hannibal huffed, struggling for air. Will's body seized and convulsed until he let out his last breath of air. Lady Murasaki was on the ground and the last man tried to help her up. Clarice reached for Ardelia and grabbed the gun from her hand and fired two more shots killing both Lady Murasaki and her colleague.

Then there were none.

The house was an absolute bloodbath and Clarice was sobbing while holding Hannibal in her arms. Ardelia just sat in shock.

"Please Hannibal don't do this to me please!!! Please! Hannibal, if you can hear me…please….you can't leave me and the baby alone. Please don't do what my father did. Please don't leave us alone!"

Ardelia thought she might pass out and her heart sank. Hannibal was lifeless in her arms. Mapp gathered what little strength she could and grabbed Clarice.

"Claire, baby listen to me. I am going to call the police, but I need you to get out of here."

"No! I am not leaving him."

"I will stay with him Clarice, I will. You have my word. He saved my life, I will be here. But if the FBI sees you here, you will be arrested too. So please baby go!! Go!! Think of your child, think of the baby! You have to go! You will be arrested on sight, but you have my word Clarice that I will not leave his side."

Clarice looked to her friend, "I can't do this Delia."

"Yes you can! Take whatever vehicle you can and run. If you ever want to see him again you will run!"

Clarice looked at Hannibal's face, "I love you Hannibal, I love you." She placed him gently on the floor and turned to Ardelia, "Delia please watch over him."

Clarice got up and ran as fast as she could not looking back for fear of not having the strength to continue running.

Ardelia pressed her hands over the wound with a cloth and tried to keep pressure on the wound, "Doc, I don't know if you can hear me….but…you better not make me a liar to Clarice, you hear me now?"

The police arrived in 23 minutes with the ambulance. Doctor Hannibal Lecter was transported to the nearest hospital for emergency care via helicopter. When he was brought to the ER they called a code, he didn't have a pulse.

Inside Dr. Lecter's vast memory palace he awoke in a snowy blizzard in the middle on the night next to the dreaded house where they took his Mischa.

He stood amongst the snowy wasteland and frowned, he began walking barefoot in the snow toward anywhere but that house. He walked for what seemed like miles on end. His feet were getting so cold, but still he continued. He glanced up and found the house in front of him again and turned to see his footprints in the snow. He apparently had come full circle back to the house. So Hannibal stood and ran in the opposite direction only to end up back at the same house. He fell to his knees in the snow and bowed his head, "So this is it…."

The snow fell all around him and suddenly he heard the footsteps approaching from the distance and a small child appeared dressed nicely in a warm winter jacket. He couldn't have been more than six years old.

Hannibal sat there staring at the child searching his memory palace over and over, but this was not a boy he remembered, but somehow he still felt like he knew the child, "Excuse me little one…are you lost? Do you need help?"

The boy smiled, "Follow me! I know a place where you can get warm."

The child ran off into the distance and Hannibal was quick to follow. He crossed through what seemed like a heavy dense forest, and in the distance, a faint light could be seen. It was coming from a campfire. As Hannibal approached he couldn't find the little boy anywhere, but instead a man was sitting on a log near the fire. He was dressed in a brown button up shirt with darker brown slacks, he had a policeman's hat next to him, and he adorned a gold star on his shirt.

Hannibal had never directly met this man, but he knew all to easily who this man was.

The man gave a friendly smile, "Welcome young man, you look awfully cold, how about you warm up next to the fire?"

Hannibal sat across from him on another log.

"You probably have a lot of questions, I guess I should introduce myself. I am-"

"Clarice Starling's father." Hannibal interrupted.

Hannibal earned another toothy grin from the man, "You got it! I should have guessed. Man as intelligent as yourself wouldn't have any trouble. It's nice to finally meet you. Clarice has told me lots about ya."

"The pleasure is all mine. If I may ask, where did the boy run off to?"

"He's around here somewhere probably running around playing in the snow. Kids have a certain innocence about them don't they? Reminds me of my Clarice when she was little."

Hannibal lowered his head, "Clarice…"

"Don't start sulking like that now, she is a fighter."

"I failed to protect her, I couldn't even-"

"Stop!"

Hannibal looked up.

"If there is one thing I do know about my baby, it's that she doesn't need a man protecting her. She needs someone who can love her and grow with her. She has had a lot of men leave her life. Hell I did, her boss did, and here you are trying to do the same. You care about her don't ya?"

"Of course."

"And you love her?"

"Unequivocally."

"Then get your head out of the past and build a future with her. Stop being so quick to die on her. She needs you."

Hannibal smiled, "Thank you sir."

The little boy came running up and sat next to Clarice's father.

"May I ask you one question?"

Clarice's father smiled, "Of course."

"Who is that boy?"

He smiled big and bright and placed his hand on top of the boy's head, "This little man here? This is my grandson, Hannibal."

Dr. Lecter's eyes shot open and he realized he was chained to a hospital bed alone. He looked at the monitors and the IV poles and sighed. Only a whisper of a name on his lips, "Clarice…."