| 2nd Page of BOUND. �Well, Sir...� she began. Don�t do it, Starling! �... sometimes those biters require unorthodox methods.� She smiled sweetly, watching the color rise in his face, and felt deeply satisfied with herself in spite of the cost. �Get out, Starling!� he sputtered. �Get out of my office and get out of this building. As of this minute, you are taking every last hour of leave time you have accumulated. I don�t want to see your face in these halls for the next 5 weeks. Is that understood?� �Perfectly, Sir.� She said it sweetly enough, but through clenched teeth. She rose and started for the door. �Starling.� She turned, her hand on the doorknob, the merest hint of a defiant gleam in her eyes. �Yes, Sir?� �It will give me no end of pleasure to have your badge someday, Agent Starling.� She blinked calmly, then turned, opened the door and left without looking back. Section 2 When had she decided to take advantage of this little forced vacation? She would have been reluctant to admit it, but she had called the travel agent almost immediately after hanging up the phone from speaking with Jack Crawford. He had started the conversation with, �Hello, Starling. I understand you ran into some trouble again.� Her past 5 years with the Bureau had seemed like little but trouble, and she resented the acknowledgment of her unfortunate reputation by her would-be mentor. Clarice Starling was not a woman who avoided taking responsibility for her own choices, but she couldn�t help but feel that Crawford deserved at least some small portion of the blame for the train wreck that she called her career. After her graduation from the FBI Academy, Jack Crawford could have easily pulled the necessary strings to have her assigned to Behavioral Science. It was certainly uncommon for a fledgling agent to be assigned to Crawford�s department, but her training had been uncommon as well, and she had more than proven herself. Her initial reaction to his failure to request her assignment was surprise and disappointment. The anger and resentment had come later � when she discovered his reason. �You�re not ready, Starling. You handled yourself fine with Buffalo Bill, but Lecter got to you.� He went on with a long discussion of her need for more experience, telling her expansively that it was no shame to be thrown by Lecter. Agents with far more experience than she had were unable to handle dealing with the Doctor�s head games... blah, blah, blah. At some point, she realized that this little run at rationalization was more to assuage his own guilt than to benefit her. He had not yet bought the bill of goods that he was working so hard to sell her. The truth of the matter was that she was not thrown by Lecter � and that frightened Crawford far more than he was willing to admit. He didn�t want her in Behavioral Science because she had managed to make a connection, albeit tenuous, with Hannibal the Cannibal. In Crawford�s eyes, that particular achievement damaged her somehow... she was contaminated. She had done her job too well. Jack Crawford had sacrificed her career to catch his man. She didn�t realize it at the time, but she should have felt grateful that it was only her career. The last time Crawford had sacrificed a protege, it had been Will Graham. Graham had lost far more than his career to Crawford�s agenda. Graham had lost everything... his family, his health, his sanity. He had only a rudimentary insight into Hannibal Lecter, but he also had Crawford�s trust and respect. She had gone farther, but hadn�t had the decency to be afraid of her ability to do so. For this transgression, she had been left to make her way in the Bureau with no real hope of ever getting the assignment she most wanted. Her fellow agents � and most of her superiors � seemed spooked by her association with Lecter. Or perhaps they were simply following Crawford�s lead... picking up on his fear of her somehow? She wasn�t sure anymore if she had been tainted by Lecter or by Crawford�s reluctance to accept her in the wake of Lecter�s influence. Ultimately it didn�t really matter... it all amounted to the same thing. Turn to next page of story.... |