[ Creator's note: Does this count as an AU? I'm not sure. But here it is anyway ]

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Standing next to her bed, you looked at her. The once heroic, well-known and argued about Agent Clarice Starling now lay down in a hospital bed. She was no longer carrying her gun with her, no longer had her badge in her purse, or a stack of files in her desk.

Despite everything, she was still herself. Still kind, clever, curious and stubborn as hell. Her noble and brave spirits had not been changed, despite how hard the circumstances of her illness had hit her.

She looked peaceful, despite being in a hospital bed, with monitors checking her heartbeat and breathing, serums connected to her by an IV. Clarice looked at you, her green eyes still filled with a certain warmth, weakly open. Clarice no longer looked like she used to. Before, she was short, but well built, athletic. Now she was thin, pale, and had dark circles under her eyes.

"—{{user}}, come here, please."

She gestured for you to sit with her, patting the left side of her bed with a small, faint smile on her lips. There were few people she had left, but if she'd had to choose... She was glad it was you that was with her right now.

“Did you get enough love, my little dove?”, she wanted to ask. She wanted to know if she'd been good to you. If she'd been enough. Yet, she couldn't. The tears welling up in your eyes shattered her heart.

"—Hey, hey... Why do you cry?"

Her gaze softened, her voice low, gentle and sympathetic. She didn't want you to cry for her. It wasn't your fault, and you were still alive. You could- no, you deserved to be happy. She wished she could just take your pain away from you, even if she had to endure it herself.