A/N: This story starts at the ending of the movie Hannibal, but, I'm attempting to use some elements from the movie, couple of the alternative scenes, and the books. I have also used some direct quotes from each of them, which I have italicized.

"Bye, Clarice." These were the final words that he had planned to utter to her in this instance, as there was no doubt in his mind that they would be seeing one another again, and soon, if he had anything to do with it. All of that time that he had kept himself at a distance, watching her from afar, longing for the day that he could call her his own and there she was, only but a mere foot in front of him, pinned up against the fridge from her hair being caught in the closed door. Many other lesser men than he would have surely taken advantage of such a beautiful and elegant creature in such a defenseless state, but he could never bring the FBI agent any harm and Hannibal had promised her as much. The world was a far more interesting place with her in it, and it would certainly be rude of him if he broke that promise to her, even in such a predicament as the one that they currently found themselves in now. Instead the former surgeon had brought her back to Paul Krendler's rental lake home, removed the bullet that had penetrated her shoulder and then nursed her back to health, and even when her first instincts had been to attack him, he had been forced into a position where he had to pin her up against the fridge, but only out of self-defense.

Hannibal had always found nourishment just from the mere sight of her, and that already left him yearning to be nearer to her more often than not; more so now that he had stolen from her a highly coveted kiss. The absence of her from his lips already left the doctor hungering for her more than ever before, if such a thing could truly be possible. Deep down, Hannibal knew in his gut that Clarice would never see through the bars of his plight and ache for him just as he ached for her. She saw him as her enemy, after all, but some of their stars were the same, and he hoped that, perhaps, there was even the slightest of possibilities that he could be very wrong about her.

Hannibal couldn't bear to peel himself or his eyes away from her splendorous beauty now that he was there to take it all in, and if he had to be completely honest with himself, he really didn't want to… even with the opposing threat of being reincarcerated and losing his freedom once more. Clarice had already called the cops nearly ten minutes prior and they would be bearing down upon his head at any given time now, getting closer and closer to them, with every tick of the clock. And yet, even with this knowledge in mind, he was still finding it nearly impossible to budge a single inch away from her. Taking one last deep breath of her intoxicating aroma, Hannibal finally mustered enough strength to force himself to walk away from her, until suddenly, her fingers tightly coiled themselves around his wrist to prevent him from taking another step. Hannibal brung himself to a halt to look back his angelic Clarice, who was now desperately trying to maneuver herself to lean against her side to face him.

Clarice had to be in a great deal of pain with her hair still clamped tightly shut inside of the refrigerator door (or perhaps the morphine that he had given to her earlier, when he removed the bullet from her shoulder, was still dulling her senses), but there she was peering up at him with those daring blue eyes. It was almost as if he could momentarily peer into the depths of her soul and read it with great clarity, as if it were one of his books. Was that a trace of fear that he detected? Hannibal's heart, ever so still and quiet, even leaped and sped up as he peered a little more deeply into her eyes, but he kept his face an unreadable mask to her. It was odd, and yet strangely fascinating to him, that she was the only human being on this cruel planet who had ever had this sort of effect on him. Stranger yet, he both hated it and craved it.

"I'm really short on time, Clarice." his voice was calm as he spoke, but in truth, he was becoming a little more nervous by the second.

"You never answered my question from earlier, doctor." she prodded as her grip tightened around his wrist even more.

"Oh? And what question would that be, hmm?"

"I asked you about your life."

"I already told you-"

"No… why do you do all of this? With all of our talks, you have never trusted me enough to tell me why. What purpose does it serve for you to kill all of these men?" She tugged at his arm to pull him a little closer to her, and he oddly enough found himself letting her. "Earlier, you told me that you came all of this way to watch me run in the woods… and then you asked me to run away with you. How can you seriously expect me to trust you enough to leave everything behind, if you can't trust me with something like that? I told you everything..." Her eyes were becoming more fierce by the second. Was it possible that Clarice would reconsider taking up his proposition? A proposal, that offered her a chance at the life she so richly deserved? A life away from the FBI and the corruption of leaders, who continually yearned to see her fail- it was a life he could afford to give her and the offer was still on the table if she wished to take it. All she needed to do now was reach out and take hold of it. But would she?

I think a new life lies before you. A better life. With me? Hmmm, there's a thought. His earlier words briefly echoed throughout his mind for a moment as he dared to let his eyes quickly dart towards the ticking clock next to the wall. He was running out of time and he could almost swear that he heard the wailing sirens from the oncoming police cars in the distance.

"Another time, perhaps, but for now, I really must be going." He attempts to jerk himself free from her grasp, but her iron grip was just as unfaltering as her determination. Damn, did he ever admire her strength, which also reminded him of something else that he had once told her before. The most stable elements, Clarice, appear in the middle of the periodic table, roughly between iron and silver. Between iron and silver. I think that is appropriate for you. And she was every bit as stubborn and as strong as those metals were.

"We don't reckon time in the same way, do we, doctor?" She echoes a sentiment that he had once expressed to her when she came to him for some answers about Buffalo Bill. He should have known that would eventually come back to bite him in the ass.

Hannibal's eyes suddenly lit up, as if they were on fire and drew himself threateningly closer to her, stopping when his face was only but an inch away from her own. "Don't test me, Clarice." His voice was apparently much calmer than his current outward demeanor. Clarice appeared startled by his reaction to her seemingly innocent question. However, she didn't move or flinch away from him. "You do recall what happened to the last person who tried to test me, don't you?" He paused for a moment and then added, "Now, Clarice, let me go. I need to go, now."

"I'm not testing you, doctor." She was steady as stone, her voice was unwavering. "I want to know. I want to understand…"

Hannibal closed his eyes for a moment or two and then calmly took a step away from her to recompose himself. Clarice was truly being completely earnest with him. Hannibal could tell, just from the sound of her voice, and she did have a point… and a very good one at that. He knew every little detail about her own path, the one that led her straight to the FBI. He knew the very thing that motivated her. Yet, she didn't know a thing about how he had come to this point in his life and how he became the monster that she carried with her each day. "If I promised you that I would tell you everything, the next time that we come face-to-face, would you let me go?"

"If you also promise me that it won't be another ten years… before I see you again." She replied.

Hannibal gave her a quick nod. Reasonable enough.

Reluctantly, and without saying another word, Clarice freed the older man from her vice grip and he hastily started towards the back door, through which he could make his escape. He hadn't any more precious time to waste as the cops surely must be drawing closer, pulling up into the driveway by now. Or they must be mere moments away at the very least. "Oh, and one more thing, the offer is still on the table. Think about it." He called out over his shoulder and then disappears through the doorway and into the night.

A/N: This chapter was going to be a little longer, but I feel like this is a good place to end things for now, so I won't feel the need to rush through the next part.