(A/N: This is the sequel to 'Give Me Darkness, Give Me Light'. It takes place about a few months after the first story. This story is promising to be quite long so be warned (At the moment I have about 20 chapters all planned out)! Oh, and the words in italics are Arabic, the translation is provided in the brackets following the word(s). Kay, hope you enjoy the ride!)

Family Blood

Chapter 1: A Ticking Time Bomb

Nighttime at Buenos Aires has a mysterious, romantic feeling about it. Very few people in this world can truly appreciate that fact, for better or for worse. At the moment two people who truly could were enjoying the peaceful stillness of the dark night on the balcony of a particularly exquisite home. After what felt like a lifetime of excitement and peril, former Special Agent Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter had every right to enjoy the radiant serenity of the hours of darkness, welcoming it like long missed friend.

The cool wind picked up slightly, making Clarice's flaming hair flow in the breeze. She had never felt so carefree in her life. She had been here with Dr. Lecter for about ten months now, and she loved every second of it. No nagging superiors to answer to, no serial killers to chase, and no more screaming lambs.

Sighing, she leaned further into Dr. Lecter's arms, content. She had followed him out here a while ago when he had gone out for some fresh air, and now they stood there together in silence.

 Dr. Lecter, with one arm around Clarice and his other hand stroking her hair, stared out into the starry night sky, lost in thought. As peaceful as this time was for them, he could feel something lurking, an approaching disturbance. Even though he himself wasn't a believer of clairvoyance, his own feelings like his current one had been proven true time and time again, and he took it seriously. It wasn't only him either that was experiencing a slight change. Over the years he had noticed that Clarice tends to grow quite restless just before times of great hazard, and lately she had been more or less bouncing off the walls. 

Another breeze swept through the air, carrying the pleasant scents of nearby plants and flowers on it. Amongst this serene setting, any thoughts of danger seemed like a sin, an impossible possibility. However, looks can be deceiving.

"We're going to have to leave here soon," Dr. Lecter quietly said, with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Clarice looked up, a little surprised when he spoke. "Leave?" she asked.

 The doctor looked back at her. "I'm afraid so my dear. We shouldn't stay in one place for too long; just to be on the safe side." He didn't mention his thoughts of a lurking threat, not wanting to worry her.

Clarice vaguely muttered her agreement, seeing his point. As much as she enjoyed it here at Buenos Aires, even she knew that they wouldn't be able to stay there forever. But something else bothered her about the situation, something about how Dr. Lecter spoke about it told her that there was something more to leaving here.

"Why the sudden change of plans?" she asked, determined to force the answer out of him if need be.

Dr. Lecter seemed to hesitate for a second before responding. "I just sense something Clarice, and it's not pleasant. A gut feeling you could call it."

Clarice grinned. "Or paranoia perhaps?"

What she didn't tell him, however, was that she had sensed the same thing as him for a while now. She had suspected that he felt it too, but didn't bring it up until now.

Dr. Lecter chuckled a little at Clarice's quip. "As much as I would like to believe that my dear," his tone went back to serious again. "I'm quite confident that it's more than a case of paranoia."

Looking back into the sky for a few seconds, he eventually added. "Something is going to happen Clarice, and it won't be good. That I'm sure of."

Clarice nodded her agreement.

After a few more moments of silence, she finally broke it, determined to lighten the mood for the night. She preferred not to dwell on darker things tonight. 

"I think that something is going to happen very soon as well," she turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "But it will be quite good, that I'm sure of."

With a wicked smile, in a swift movement her lips found his. Their prior thoughts of danger were quickly pushed to the back of their minds as they held each other in a passionate embrace.

**********

Noon was slowly approaching as Lilith Anna Mackenzie browsed through the local market near her home in Cairo, Egypt. Swerving through the crowds of people, no one would even consider that the woman wearing the green tank top, black jeans and silver ankh necklace with the tiny jade stone was hiding from the FBI. And certainly no one would ever suspect that she was the daughter of a famous cannibal.

Lilith, AKA Jadis Rebecca Lecter, scanned the stalls of the local merchants, searching for one in particular. She enjoyed these walks through the market, looking out for anything that catches her eye. This was one of the few places where she could walk around and stay unnoticed, as long as she kept her tell-tale scar and maroon eyes hidden. Even though she was sure that she would be safe without the disguise, she preferred not to take any stupid risks as far as her true identity was concerned. She was just happy to be known as Lilith the mossikiyy (musician). She had made a name for herself locally for her skills with the flute and acoustic guitar by occasionally playing at a nearby café.

Almost bumping into another woman, Jadis heard her cell phone ringing in her pant's pocket. Looking at the caller id, she was a little surprised at who it was.

'Why would he be calling now?' she wondered as she answered the call.

"Marhaba?" (Hello?) she said into the small phone.

 "Marhaba to you too, Jadis," her father on the other end greeted her. "Where are you right now?"

"Sook," (Market) she answered in Arabic, not wanting to draw attention by speaking English.

Dr. Lecter understood. "The market," he repeated in English. "So I assume you can't find somewhere private at the moment, can't you?"

Jadis looked around her. "La," (No) she told him.

"Okay then, just listen and call me back later if you need to know more. Clarice and I are going to be leaving Buenos Aires soon."

Jadis blinked. "Imta?" (When?) she asked, surprised. 

"We think maybe sometime next week if possible. Before you ask, no we don't know where to yet, but we may stop in Cairo for a day or to, we're not sure."

"Leyh la?" (Why not?) she asked, curious.

 There was a short pause on the other end. "I'll explain everything to you when you're out of the public and not limited to one word sentences."

Jadis could hear the tease in his voice. Her Arabic wasn't the greatest in the world by far, but it was just enough to get her by.

Grinning, she responded, "Na'am, na'am. Feyn Claire?" (Yeah, yeah. Where's Claire?) she asked, using 'Claire' as a substitute for 'Clarice'. 

"Clarice is out at the moment. Shall I tell her that you said 'marahaba' to her?"

"Na'am, shukran," (Yes, thank you.) she said while dodging an oncoming cyclist.

"I'll be sure to let her know. I'll call you again later tonight when you're not so busy. Okay?"

Jadis nodded. "Biheyr. Ma'assalama," (Fine. Good bye.) she said.

"Ma'assalama until next time to you too." With that, Dr. Lecter hung up the phone and Jadis tucked away hers back into her pocket.

"Leaving?' she thought as she investigated a particularly eye-catching bracelet at one of the stalls. 'I didn't think that they would leave so soon." Making a mental note to herself to ask her father at least ten of the twenty questions that were swirling around inside her head at the moment, she set the bracelet back onto the small display and continued her walk in the sea of people.

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(A/N: Well, there's the first chapter and a little bit of my limited amount of knowledge of Arabic *sheepish grin*. I have about ten thousand ideas for this story and I'm determined to use them all, or at least the vast majority of them, so I think that I'm going to have some real fun with this one *evil grin*. Anyways, I'll try to have the next chapter up soon!)

-SP