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Title: Eggs in One Basket
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Will Graham/Everett Hobbs (Original Character)
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Everett's face is Benedict Cumberbatch.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Will Graham or Lee Fallon, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

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Hannibal didn't seem to have confined his murders specifically to the area he was in. That wasn't surprising, Everett thought, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

He didn't really need to wear the glasses, unless he was reading or working on the computer. But he liked them; they made him feel more intellectual, and there were times when he needed that feeling, especially when he was feeling as frustrated as he was now.

He couldn't come up with one single thing that he thought would help Will. Not one. Lecter had covered his tracks too carefully, and gone to ground all too well.

There wasn't one shred of evidence that pointed towards him.

But Everett knew that the man was guilty. He had personal experience of just what Lecter was like, of the horrors he could perpetrate without blinking an eye. He had no doubt that Will had been framed; he just didn't know how Lecter had done it.

Think, Everett, he told himself sternly. Lecter had been a physician. Could there have been some way for him to set Will up by using that sort of knowledge?

The most damning evidence appeared to be the fact that Will had coughed up Abigail's ear. Everett frowned as he studied the statement Will had made; he had no idea how that could have happened, as he didn't remember actually eating part of a human being.

Everett didn't think he had, but that evidence couldn't be denied. It seemed to be incontrovertible proof that Will had indeed murdered a young girl.

Unless .... Everett frowned, searching his memory for some piece of information that would make this all fall into place more easily. Unless that "evidence" had been put there during one of Will's blackouts, perhaps? Knowing Lecter, that was all too plausible.

It took a moment, but the idea burst upon him in a sudden flare of clarity.

Lecter could have waited until Will was having one of his blackouts, and used a feeding tube to get that ear into Will's stomach. It would have been all too easy to victimize a man who was unconscious; he would never know what had been done to him.

But there was a way to prove it. Will hadn't been in jail that long; if he had been intubated, there would be scratches on his larynx, however minute they might be.

Those scratched could only have been caused by a tube being forced into his throat. He could insist that a doctor examine Will, that x-rays of his throat be taken. And if they already had been, then those x-rays could be examined for scratches.

It was a slim chance, but it was something.

He would have to argue to have those tests done, but he would make sure that they were. Anything that could be used to get Will out of jail was worth a try.

And besides, the more he thought about it, the more he was sure that it was the truth, and that was what Hannibal Lecter had done to make sure that Will would be accused of Abigail's murder. He had practiced medicine in the past; such a thing would be child's play to him.

The question that loomed so large in Everett's mind was just why Lecter had chosen WIil as being the person he wanted to frame for his crimes.

Did Lecter have some kind of unhealthy obsession with Will? It certainly seemed that way, especially since the bastard was now paying Will visits while he was incarcerated.

According to Will, Lecter wasn't coming there to gloat, but to extend an offer of "friendship" and offering to "help" him. That thought made Everett snort in derision; the man who had framed Will for his own crimes and put him in jail now wanted to "help" him?

Just what kind of sick game was Lecter playing? And how was he going to be able to protect Will from the evil that Lecter represented?

He didn't know at the moment, but he would find a way.

He wasn't going to let Lecter get anywhere near Will once he managed to get the young man out of jail. He would do whatever it took to keep that monster away from the two of them. Everett scowled as his hands clenched into fists; he could feel the frustration building up inside him.

Lecter seemed to be widening the area he killed within; if he had followed Will to Minnesota, and killed her there, then he was branching out.

No one was safe from that murderous monster, Everett thought with a shudder. No one. There was no way of knowing where Lecter would strike next, what innocent life he would decide to take. All Everett knew was that it would happen.

Lecter was addicted to killing. He couldn't go for long without taking a victim.

Everett didn't doubt that for a moment. He might not be an expert on serial killers, but since his own brush with Lecter five years ago, he had studied up on them. He had familiarized himself with their patterns, and he was sure that Lecter would never stop.

His hands shook as he thought about the past, casting his mind back over what had happened so long ago, though it felt as though it had just taken place yesterday.

Closing his eyes, he pushed those memories away. This wasn't the time to think of the past. Right now, he had to concentrate on the present, and on Will's situation. There was time enough to indulge in memories when he was in bed at night, alone with his thoughts.

For the moment, he had to turn his thoughts to where they could do the most good -- and that was helping Will. He had to focus on that, and nothing else.

The past was over and done. He couldn't change what had happened; he could only look back at it and wonder if he could have managed to change anything. Everett let out a soft sigh, opening his eyes again as he focused on the papers on the desk in front of him.

Yes, this was the next angle he had to try. Lecter's medical knowledge.

With any luck, this might be what could prove that Will hadn't killed Abigail. It might not be conclusive proof, but it would certainly raise more than reasonable doubt.

If he could do that, then there was a good chance that Will would go free. And that was his goal, after all. It didn't matter how that was achieved, as long as he got Will out of prison and exonerated him. This was as good a chance for that as any.

All he had to do was have a doctor examine Will, take some x-rays, and argue that this raised a great deal of doubt as to whether Will had committed murder -- or been framed for it.

He wouldn't point a finger at Lecter. Not yet. He didn't have enough evidence for that. But he would manage, somehow, to point out that Lecter was the only person who would have had access to Will during one of his blackouts to plant that so-called "evidence" through intubation.

Everett smiled grimly. This would work. It had to. It might be their only chance.

If it didn't, then he was fresh out of ideas. He had racked his brain, combed through every shred of evidence they had that might point to Lecter in some way. This was the best thing that he could come up with; they'd have to put all of their eggs into this basket.

He just hoped that those eggs wouldn't break and end up all over their faces.

***