Though Clarice Starling's career seemed promising after catching the infamous Jame Gumb —who the police and media had crudely nicknamed 'Buffalo Bill'— being still a humble, inexperienced trainee, the truth was her prodigious mind and her luck had done more bad than good to her career. People like Paul Krendler, from the Department of Justice, had been less than happy about a trainee solving the Buffalo Bill case instead of being them who the media thanked.

Men who looked down on her, who had gone bitter and vindictive after she'd turned down their advances —Krendler being the main one, his leery eyes and his powerful position making him a pain in the ass—, they'd all contributed to her getting stuck and never climbing up the ladder.

Her angels within the bureau were few. She had Ardelia, her best friend and roommate, but she struggled just the same, if not more, and was assigned to a different unit. She had Johnny Brigham, a former Marine and her instructor at the Academy, before they became fellow agents and good friends. She had Jack Crawford, too, and had long stopped thinking of him as a dick face. She had former Senator Martin's support, more or less, or so she had heard. But her enemies outnumbered her allies by a significant amount.

Years had passed since the Buffalo Bill case in 1988. No trace of Lecter, it seemed, as though he'd vanished into thin air. Meanwhile, she was stuck as an agent who, though primarily focused on the technological aspects of every case, was always a call away from being asked to join drug raids and other joint-force assignments... She had not gotten assigned to the Behavioral Sciences Unit as she'd always desired, though she hadn't given up yet... Maybe she appeared resigned, but she'd be damned if she let those men win and settle for being a tech agent and, at best, an agent to send to raids and leading other agencies.

This morning, she was at the J. Edgar Hoover building at a slightly earlier hour than most days. She got out of her red Mustang Roush, grabbing her briefcase, full of documents. She made her way to the office calmly, slowly. Years had passed, and she'd learned to not rush herself, what for? Most of her cases weren't exactly an emergency... They had her dealing with cyber delinquents on a daily basis. Not killers. The world wouldn't end if she took a minute or two longer to get there.

She made sure to buy a cup of coffee from a machine before she headed downstairs.