This is my take on the beginning of Season 2 if Will Graham had a younger sister name Alice who would come to his defense. I was captivated by the dynamic characters and wanted to add a little something extra to the mix as we wait for the story to unfold. I certainly do not own anything Hannibal related. This is mainly an homage to the brilliant show.
"I want to see my brother," says Alice Graham before biting her lower lip, eyes flicking nervously to a dark painting of a lamb in field at night.
Dr. Chilton studies the girl openly, searching her intense eyes for the madness that lives so naturally inside her brother, Will Graham. Her ivory skin appears illuminated under the harsh excess of light. Her eyes are the deep green of a meadow after a thunderstorm. Her lips are a puffed, muted pink. Waves of chestnut hair cascade softly past her small shoulders.
"I am very sorry…Alice? Is it? But William is simply too unstable. You are aware that he has been charged for committing multiple homicides?"
Alice Graham holds her breath to conceal a sneer of contempt. After counting to five she retorts, "Just because Freddie Lounds writes an article and Jack Crawford makes a heinous accusation does not mean that my brother is a psychotic murderer." Her voice is low, her demeanor, stony. She reacts similarly to Will when probed.
Dr. Chilton gives her a look of exaggerated sympathy. "The evidence found…" he begins, but stops himself after noting the expression on Alice's face. "The state has placed your brother in my care, and I'm going to see to it that he gets the treatment he needs."
She can't tell if he had meant to say it to sooth her nerves or exacerbate them, though she secretly believes his intention is the latter.
"That isn't what I asked. I want to see my brother, and you are going to let me. If you truly want to help him, than you must know that seeing his sister will be good for him. It'll be good for me too," she says honestly, her arms wrapped protectively around her chest.
He takes a moment to consider the opportunity presented to him. He resolves to confer with Dr. Lecter before proceeding.
"I need to think this through, taking all aspects of your brother's condition into consideration before proceeding with anything that might aggravate his mental state," Dr. Chilton offers cagily.
Alice stands, eyes icy with offense. She looks directly into his pale eyes and says, "I'll be in the waiting room until you make a decision." She grabs her dark gray rucksack and slams the door in his face.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter walks briskly through the waiting room of the Baltimore State Hospital for the criminally insane, noting the smooth white neck of a young woman reclining on one of the hard metal chairs. Her head is bent innocently, eyes closed. He wonders who she might be visiting.
Dr. Chilton welcomes him into his office warmly, offering him tea. Hannibal smiles in acceptance, wondering what crude machinations Frederick would consider refined. After an inquisitive sip, he places the tea down, unimpressed, as he expected.
"Since your call was rather mysterious in nature and you have yet to breach the subject, I will venture to assume that this meeting is to do with my former patient, Will Graham. What I am curious about is what specifically you wish to discuss that you think I am unaware of," he states plainly, unwilling to play cat and mouse with such inferior pray.
Dr. Chilton responds with a Cheshire cat's grin. "Were you aware that Will Graham has a sister?"
Hannibal swallows hard and looks in his colleague's eyes with interest. "Yes, of course. Will spoke of Alice briefly in one of our first sessions. He told me that she was a bright young woman who moved to Manhattan to pursue acting and join the poetry movement rooted there. She should be in her early twenties now. Will hasn't spoken to her in some time. Too distracted with death and unwilling to share the darkness with someone he loves."
"She's sitting in my waiting room," Dr. Chilton says, feeling the power of that statement. He knew how interested Hannibal would be. He also knew that Hannibal enjoyed unorthodox psychoanalysis as much as he did.
Hannibal does not allow himself to smile, though behind his eyes, a symphony plays. "Ah, yes. I saw a young woman sleeping. It is rude of you to leave her waiting, Frederick. She has heard terrible things reported about her brother, and now she has arrived at the hospital he remains a prisoner in and she is denied the right to comfort him. What is she to do? Very rude, indeed."
Dr. Chilton takes a deep breath, the smile gone from his lips. "What do you suggest? Will has been unresponsive as of late…this type of interaction could prove beneficial…"
"…or he could pull his sister into his delusion." Hannibal's eyes wander to the white door of Chilton's office. He wants to see past the wood, past the girl's skin, into her mind. How much like her brother is she? And how many more cracks can he add to Will Graham's psyche if his sister were to be threatened?
The two doctors walk quietly over to Alice as she yawns and rubs her eyes awake. Upon noticing their arrival she stands quickly, sure that Chilton is going to decline her admittance further.
"After careful consideration and the council of a highly respected colleague," Hannibal inclines his head to the compliment, "I have decided to allow you a brief visit with your brother," Dr. Chilton offers with a calculated smile.
Alice's eyes well with tears. She turns her head, embarrassed by her emotional reaction. She hates showing any kind of reaction in front of men she knows use emotion against people for a living. "Take me to him," she implores, unwilling to wait a moment longer.
"Before we proceed, I would like to introduce you to Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He was William's original psychiatrist and will be assisting me in his treatment."
She knows this man had a role to play in her brother's incarceration, but she is unsure how bloody his hands were. Alice gazes cautiously into his striking face and says "I know who you are," quietly, like a secret admission.
Hannibal takes Alice's small hand in his, stroking it comfortingly. "I am sorry you must experience this, but I believe it will do Will good to see you again."
For the briefest of moments, Alice Graham felt as though someone understands her.
Will Graham's attention is focused on a black blotch on the ceiling of his cell. He was sure the stain had spread since yesterday, if he could remember when yesterday was. The acidic taste of chemicals sits in his mouth. At night, the stain begins to take a crimson shade, and he can almost smell the faint perfume Abigail wore on the plane…summer lilacs. Then everything smells of blood and fevered heat.
"Will!" Abigail calls out, as if underwater. Did he drown her? No, they told him he cut her throat and…
"It's me. It's Abigail."
Someone is crying. Will sees a field of mushrooms, a totem pole of bodies, faces split open, organs dangling, Abigail's ear…
"It's Alice. Will please, I love you, just look at me," she whispers almost inaudibly.
He hears her. He looks up. There she is. His sister. The one person in the world he wanted to protect most of all. Over the past three months he barely wanted to think of her, for fear he would dream she was hurt in some way by the killers he was forced to study. And now here she is, in the snake pit with him.
"I didn't want you to come here," he says desperately, through tears.
"I don't care! I don't care about myself. I'm here, I'm here, I don't believe them, I love you, I won't ever believe it," she blurts in a ramble of exhaustion of pain.
Dr. Chilton and Dr. Lecter listen to the exchange with interest, at a distance that does not attract their subject's attention.
Will squeezes the iron bars in frustration. "You don't understand. It isn't safe for you to be here. I don't want you to attract anyone's attention."
"It's too late." Alice's eyes wander to the floor as she places a lock of hair behind her ear. "Everyone knows. I can't talk to any of my friends without them asking me…reporters keep calling, find me in hotels…all that matters is that I'm here for you now. You won't have to endure this alone." She reaches through the bars and takes hold of her brother's hands.
Dr. Lecter steps purposefully beside Alice and places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Alice. We are all here to help Will." His smile radiates through the bars and into the terrified heart of his prey.