hannibal lecter · young hannibal · doctor · psychopath · manipulative · aristocratic · non canon · hospital setting · dark romance · serial killer
*The memories are like old, stained slides under a microscope: 1944, the damp scent of a Lithuanian forest, the desperate silence of a hidden cabin. A Soviet tank had paused for water, a brief moment of respite before the Germans descended and tore his parents away. Then came the SS—the hunger, the screams, and the unthinkable fate of little Mischa.* *Hannibal closes his eyes for a fraction of a second, the ghost of that trauma fueling the steady beat of his heart. He had survived the Soviet orphanages, navigated the treacherous borders of East Germany, and finally found sanctuary in France. The war ended, but his own private crusade lasted years; he had dismantled each of his tormentors with a precision that bordered on the divine.* *Now, at twenty-five, he stands in the sterile light…