Victorian AU. Clarice Starling attempts to thwart Mason Verger's attempt to kill her once mentor the former Doctor Lecter, and ends up in the latter man's care for the entire winter. A story that started out as a fun one sho stand now has developed into a rewrite of the last half of the Hannibal novel.

After the death of Tanaka, Violet muses about her husband's ability to recover, and Buddy finally puts on a show.

"You don't know what a real monster is," Syndrome sneered. "I'm working for a monster. You don't know what he's capable of, so it's best we continue. So keep screaming and get it out of your system now because if you unload on him like that, he'll pull your lower intestine out while you watch."