The Silence is Over [Silence of the Lambs]

Three

We all sat there, shocked at what had just occurred.

Slowly, people started to leave, the secretaries, police officers, the rookies, until finally, it was me and my team left in the War Room.

"Well, shit." James said, and Marvin chuckled nervously.

"When will we get a new Captian?" I asked.

"Beats me," James said, shrugging his shoulders.

I shook my head in disbelief. Captian Lee was here even before I started working in the FBI. He had coached me and taught me everything he knew. He was not only my Captian or my boss, but also my friend. He was the one I ran to as soon as the whole Bill thing was over. He punched an EMT guy trying to secure the premises to bring out the body just so he could get to me and comfort me after what had happened. 

I smiled a little at that memory.

"What should we do until the new guy comes?" Ben asked.

"Desk work, and just try to keep the city from destroying itself until then." I said, sighing.

Ben nodded, and I got up and went back to my desk.

- - - 

Filing paperwork is bad, but when you have no clue about what's going to happen, phones to answer, and paperwork to fill out, that's times triple the pain. So when Delia, a head secretary, tells me I have a phone call in the War Room to attend to, I'm thankful for the destruction.

"Thanks, Delia," I said, putting down my pen and ever-growing pieces of paper.

"You taking a lunch break?" Marvin asks.

I shake my head.

"Call in the War Room for me. Delia says it's urgent." I said.

"Oh, okay." I noticed Marvin's mood changed when I said that. HIs usual red face went pale, and he wouldn't look me in the eye.

"You okay there, Marvin?" I asked.

"Oh, me? Yeah, of course!" He said, although I certainly wasn't convinced. 

I nodded and walked to the War Room. Delia was sitting at the seat that just two hours ago held our Captain, now retired. 

"Agent Starling, she's on line two." Delia said, and hurriedly got up and closed the door for privacy.

"Uh...thank you?" I mumbled, confused at her weird mannerisms today.

And she? Who could be calling me that's a she?  I wondered as I sat down and pulled the phone to me.

"Okay, here goes nothing," I say, and pick up the phone, clicking the number 2 as I do.

I'm not hearing anything right away, so I decide to talk.

"H-Hello?" I said tentatively, now nervous for some reason.

No one says anything.

"Hello?" I say more confident now.

Still no one answers.

Did Delia and the team set me up? So not funny.

"Hello? If there's someone there, please say something, because I would like to remind you that calling and not saying anything or just hanging up is very immature and a misdemeanor crime, and I'm an FBI officer so you better--"

A soft chuckle into the phone catches me off guard and I stop midsentence.

"There's the Clarice we all know and love." a female voice says.

I gasp at the realization of who it is. But no.

It can't be.

I haven't contacted her since a few weeks after--

"C-Catherine? Catherine M-Martin?" I ask, shocked.

"The one and only, last time I checked, though I'm not too sure anymore," she said.

"Miss me, Clarice?"

My heart crashes downward as I struggle to breathe and I'm thrown back into a memory I seriously wish I could forget.