Wrath

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"So what are we looking at here?" Beverly said finally as they stared down at a body that had been diced by at least seven different weapons as far as the forensics team could tell. Clarice closed her eyes tight and sighed as Will fidgeted beside her, knowing that there were only two victims left before this killer vanished from sight and they were left with seven dead bodies and no explanation.

Clarice opened her eyes and ignored the stares from the forensics team as the florescent lights above her clicked quietly.

"It's a tribute" Clarice said finally.

"To whom?" Will said looking over at her.

"I can't say" Clarice said trying to concentrate "But these are all weapons that have been used in the past cases you've worked on Will. It's like...it's like he's trying to communicate to another killer, like he wants his attention."

"What makes you think it has anything to do with one of my cases?" Will said as his voice strained a little. They both had lost sleep the past week, Will with the haunting visions of the dead bodies that piled around him and Clarice, while Clarice felt the tie between her and Hannibal slipping between each day. Hannibal had not called on her, and she hadn't heard his voice in two days. It was startling to say the least, that he would just up and desert her like this, but Clarice was trying to remain strong, if not for herself, then for Will.

"Clarice?" Will said quietly "What has this killer got to do with my past?"

Clarice sighed and looked over at Beverly "Should I tell him?"

Beverly nodded, knowing she wasn't going to be the one.

Clarice looked over at Will and with everything in her simply said "The victim was torn open with a stag antler Will, I think...and this is a hunch, but a very big hunch, that our deadly sins killer is trying to impress the Chesapeake ripper, who I think..." she said with a deep breath "Is the copycat killer to Garret Jacob Hobbs."

Will felt the light in the room suddenly darken around him, knowing that what Clarice said was true as her blue eyes stared at him like a calm ocean before the storm.

"Are you sure?" Will said nearly breathless.

"If we catch this killer" Clarice said "We catch the ripper."

"What do we need to do?" Will asked.

Clarice turned to Beverly and the forensics team "We need every weapon scrubbed for prints, even traces of things not belonging to the victim. I don't care if they aren't really prints, just get me anything you can get. Second, we know that at least two organs were removed, I think he's going to send the Ripper the organs as a love token of some sort. We need to get a hold of every delivery service in town and see if anything that needed to be stored at cool temperatures was delivered in the past week."

"What will you do in the mean time?" Will said as Clarice turned to him.

"I have some business to take care of" Clarice said giving him a weak smile "But I'll be at your place later okay?"

"Alright just call me before you head over" Will said scratching at the back of his head.

Clarice nodded and headed out of the room, her body slumping the minute she was out of sight. She needed sleep, but when she slept she dreamed, and her dreams woke her up so she couldn't sleep. It was a vicious cycle that hadn't stopped since the moment she had stopped seeing Hannibal.

But tonight was different, she needed to see him, and as crazy as she would look, she knew the only way to get to him was just to go outright.

By the time Clarice found herself at Hannibal's door though, she could feel second thoughts creeping into her skull. Maybe this was a sign, a fling that only needed to happen for a short time, just so Clarice could get her life back on track. But her heart skipped a beat every time Hannibal's name was mentioned, her ears perked at the mere ringing of a phone thinking the call might be from him. It was getting to be a bad habit, and if she couldn't get a straight answer out of him tonight, then at least she could leave on her own terms.

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