Day 31 - The Monster Outside the Cage [Hannibal (TV)]
Title: The Monster Outside the Cage
Author: Twisted_Slinky
Crossover: Hannibal (TV)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: "Hello, Dana. I am Dr. Lector."
Wordcount: ~650
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or Hannibal (TV) . And I am making no money off this fanwork.
A/N: No real spoilers for Hannibal (unless you don't know who Hannibal is). Angel is post-series. Makes a slight reference to some of the events in the Buffy comics, but it's a blink-and-miss-it moment. *End of the month happy dance!*
He makes the voices speak. He makes them scream.
Then the world in her mind is quiet, and Dana is staring through her sweat-dampened hair at the monster in the suit as he walks past her cage. He stops, asks her keeper a question, then leaves. She goes back to listening and not hearing; she goes back to believing all monsters are men and all men monsters.
He visits again.
"Hello, Dana. I am Dr. Lector."
This time, her keepers have put her in a smaller cage, and the monster has found a chair. He sits. He is very crisp and clean and his legs are crossed, his shoes shiny, his hands loosely cupped as if to say, "see, no claws." Dana cannot trust his costume.
"Lector," she echoes, because he seems to be waiting for words.
A small grin curves the corners of his lips, but his eyes are empty. "So, you are responsive. Interesting."
She wonders if she's given something away. If that something will turn into a key. If that key will open her cage and let him in. But she doesn't cower. She glares and bares her teeth in warning.
"You've sparked my curiosity, Dana. I've read your record. It says you spent fifteen years in a psychiatric hospital in Los Angeles after being kidnapped and tortured by a man named Walter Kindel." He pauses here, and Dana thinks she sees his nostrils flare as he sniffs out her fear. He seems pleased and goes on. "You escaped," he says, cocking his head slightly. "After fifteen years, you suddenly became violent, delusional. And, most notably, you began to speak in tongues. When drugs would no longer hold you, you escaped and killed four men before you simply disappeared for over a year. Only to be found wandering the streets four months ago, after which you were admitted here at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Do you recall your arrival?"
He stops. Watching. She doesn't speak. She listens and words fall out of her mouth.
He raises a brow. "Romanian," he says. "Do you know the words, when they come to you, or do you simply speak them?"
Dana's eyes roll back in her head as the screaming begins again. Screaming. Screaming slayers. So many new ones, so many dead in such a short time. Some of them friends, ones who'd told her they would help, they would find her a home. They died or they ran, but she was left alone. And alone, only the dead would speak to her again. They told her to find the monsters.
"Do you remember Dr. Rabinaw? You were his patient." Dr. Lector leans back, relaxed. "From his notes, I would judge that he was more committed to writing a book about your sudden lingual skills than helping you find yourself."
"Bad man," she says, softly.
"I would agree," Lector says. "I have seen the videos he made of your unusual episodes. I believe I may be able to help. How would you feel about becoming a patient of mine, Dana?"
Dana watches him, wild and on edge. She feels the truth, hears the truth. "Monster," she accuses.
Lector only blinks, uninterested in the title. "In your past experiences, Dana, would it not be true to say that all the monsters in your life have been men?"
"Yes," someone whispers. Dana thinks it's one of the voices, until she realizes it's her own.
All monsters are men, all men monsters. It's the blur in her vision, the truth in her belief. She asks the dead what the difference between a monster with fangs and a monster with needles is. They can't answer for the sound of her screams, drowning them out.
The monster outside the cage smiles gently. "I believe you can make great progress, Dana. Given time. And I would be more than happy to help you find your way."