Note: This has only been edited by me and has not been run through a beta, so feel free to point out any grammatical mistakes to me. This is a Alexander Hamilton fanfiction that is modeled after Lin Manuel Miranda's version of events but fair warning, it concentrates heavily on the life of the OC as well as the existing characters. If that isn't your cup of tea, I suggest not reading any further. Jane's personality is not modeled after any real person I know, but instead a combined peppering of my female role models. This just includes her egalitarian ideals, wit, family values, and passionate drive. Thanks for reading. I've worked a bit ahead of the first chapter so don't worry about abandonment.
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Jane O'Coileain hated high society life. There. She said it. She hated the dinners where the men at the table would glare at her if she spoke without being spoken to, she hated the way she heard polished and fat plantation owners laugh about their slaves' struggles as she passed them on the streets full of the nicest shops, the way the so-called ladies in her same economic class would turn up their noses to the women in rags carrying baskets down the street, she hated all that was expected of her. Specifically, she hated that she was expected to believe that people deserved be treated as lesser than others simply because of the circumstance of their birth. She did not, however, feel this same disgust towards her own family even though they did live in the higher class of society.
Jane's mother had died of a terrible bout of the flu when she was just seven years old. Leaving her, her three brothers, and her father alone. Mrs. O'Coileain had been a fierce woman and it had shocked everyone when the flu had beat her. Everyone had expected her to come out of the other end stronger, as iron sharpens iron. Before her untimely death she had instilled very progressive values in her children, and those values had stayed with them although they had been so young at the time. It did help that her father nurtured and helped grow these values. He raised Jane, her twin brother John, her older brother Hugh, and her youngest brother Wilhelm to cherish what their mother had taught them. He treated Jane the same as his sons, letting her form and voice her own opinions alongside her brothers and complete the same amount of schooling. He educated them about everything from the plight of the slaves in their country to calculus (though he did leave the lengthier equations for the tutors). Yes, Mr. O'Coileain kept his beloved wife's memory alive through shaping his children into compassionate, strong, and educated people. However, there was one thing he taught his children that his wife hadn't had the chance to even begin doing. He educated them of the affairs that occurred between the Colonies and Britain but kept his teachings objective and unbiased, letting them decide what direction they would follow the path of. Soon Jane, John, Hugh, and Wilhelm found themselves scoffing at the taxation of tea and how Britain viewed themselves as the elite. In short, Jane loved her family for all that they were worth as they not only provided the purest form of unconditional love to her, but also banded together with her with an ambition to reshape society.
Jane and John had been nine, Hugh eleven, and Wilhelm eight when they had first spoken of this:
The moment they got home, Jane kicked off her small black shoes and stomped upstairs to her room, not even bothering to take off her winter coat and hang it on the rack. She slammed the door in a most unladylike fashion and fell back onto her baby blue bedspread, feeling hot tears run down her face. Downstairs, her father looked at the staircase where she had just disappeared into with a small frown on his face. "Boys," he addressed his sons and immediately their attention was turned to him. "Go check on your sister. Speak to her of what troubles her and help her find solace."
"Are you sure father? She seems very upset. Wouldn't it be better for you to speak to her?" John asked, worried about upsetting his sister more than she needed to be.
Eoghan O'Coileain rested a hand on Wilhelm and Hugh's shoulders and addressed all three boys, "Yes. There will come a day when I will not be able to comfort our sweet Jane. When that day comes, it will fall to you to help her. Just as it will fall to her to help you and stand by you no matter what. Now, go up there and make me proud, boys," He ruffled John's hair and gently guided the boys towards the stairs.
They hurried up the stairs, now eager to go speak to their sister not only to help her but also to make their father proud. When they got to Jane's tall white door with the carved flowers, it was Hugh who knocked. "Janie? Can we come in?" he called out to the girl he knew was by now wrapped in her blanket. A few moments after he knocked, he heard a shuffle and the door cracked open a bit.
"What do you want?" she sniffled and peered through the small opening in the door at her siblings.
"To make you feel better, of course," Wilhelm said quietly to her. "None of us like it when our Janie is upset," his lips turned down. A second later, the door was swung open completely to reveal their sister with small tears running down her cheeks and a lilac and white blanket wrapped around her shoulders with 'Jane' embroidered on one of the corners in their mother's stitching style. She crossed the room and plopped back down on the bed. The boys stepped into her room and Hugh closed the door quietly behind them, a juxtaposition to the last time it had been slammed closed just a few minutes earlier. Hugh sat in the wooden rocking chair close to her bed, Wilhelm folded down on the floor in front of Jane with his legs crossed, and John sat down on the bed with his sister and grabbed her hand, squeezing her small fingers with his.
"What's wrong, Jane?" John asked quietly. His sister had been acting strangely ever since they got to the party held at the governor's house.
Jane scrunched her small nose and took her hand away from her brother's. "Don't pretend like you didn't notice what happened!" She huffed and pulled the blanket closer around her.
The boys shared bemused glances with each other. "Jane, I think I speak for us all when I say that we didn't notice anything wrong at the party, besides you seeming upset, of course," Hugh said slowly. Wilhelm and John both nodded their heads in agreement.
Jane looked down at her hands in her lap. "You mean you really didn't hear what the governor said to me?" she met John's eyes and could tell from his knit brows that he hadn't heard any of she and the governor's short exchange. She looked to her other two brothers to see their expressions mirroring John's. Wilhelm shook his blonde head, no. "He told me that I shouldn't have been playing with you and the other boys. That it was my job to keep quiet and act like a proper lady because I'm a girl," the words tasted sour in her mouth. "That I was ruining your fun playing with you."
Wilhelm's jaw hung open, and Hugh and John's eyes widened. "I thought the governor was a good man!" Wilhelm exclaimed. "Isn't it in the rules that he has to be nice?" It didn't make sense in Wilhelm's young mind that a man as respected and celebrated as the governor could say such condescending things to his sister.
"Oh, Janie," John grabbed her hand again and used his other arm to pull her closer to his side, "We don't think you ruin our fun. We were rather put out when you sat out our games at the party." Jane let out another shaking breath and wiped away tears with her free hand.
"It's not just that! He's in the government! He has power over deciding the things we can and can't do! And he doesn't like that I was being treated equally with you boys!" More tears fell down her soft rosy cheeks.
There was a silence in the room as Jane's words sunk into their thoughts. They felt sick that their sister could be oppressed by such a powerful institution as their government and the monarchy of Britain. Jane let out another gasp of sobs and Hugh was struck with a sudden stroke of genius. "Then we don't let him hold that power over us," he rushed out, excited. "We take it away and make a place where everyone is treated fairly and Jane can play tag!"
Wilhelm was affected by his brother's sudden burst of energy and bounced slightly where he was sitting. "Mommy would have liked to live there!" he exclaimed suddenly with a wide smile.
John looked between his two brothers with an arch eyebrow. Jane voiced the thought that was running through his head. "How are you going to do that? That sounds absurd!" Although she was questioning the logistics of Hugh's plan, there was now a small smile on her face.
Hugh was at a loss at that question, he had simply thought of the end and not the means. "Wait," John said slowly. "The governor is appointed by Britain, right?" John asked trying to remember his lessons. "If we want to take away their power then we have to fight Britain and the King for it."
"Fight against King George? Are you mad?" Jane couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"It makes sense, Jane! If Britain and the Colonies start a war then the government practically resets itself!" Hugh's puberty burdened voice cracked under his excitement.
Jane hastily wiped away the last of her tears and sat up a bit higher on her bed. For a moment she didn't know what to say, in awe of her brother's sudden genius. "Then we have a chance to make things the way we want them to be."
Wilhelm's excitement finally burst and he let out a large cheer. He sprang up and began to jump around her room. "I'm gonna be King of New Colony!" he proclaimed. "And I'll make it illegal for mean men to be governors!"
Jane smiled watching her brother dance around for a moment but then fell serious again. "Would you really do that for me? Go to war?" she asked timidly, she couldn't believe that they could love her enough to literally put their lives on the line and fight for her.
At that Hugh got off of the rocking chair and sat down on the other side of Jane on her bed, looping an arm around her shoulders, "If it means you and so many others were treated like you should be, I'll fight until my dying breath."
Later on, the four children would walk out of Jane's large bedroom to be met with their father's proud smile as they told them of their new plans for revolution.
Jane was suddenly taken out of her thoughts about her family when the carriage she was in came to a sudden stop and she would have been pitched off of her seat if Hugh's long arm had not shot out instinctively to hold her back. She looked up at her brother who was now seven years older than he had been in the memory she had just been reliving. He was now tall and broad, a wall of muscle that intimidated almost all that came into contact with him. His jaw had sharpened through him growing into a man and his brown and wavy hair was now cropped close to his head though it was too short for Jane's liking. "Thank you," she said gratefully but unlike usual, he did not grace her with a smile. Just a somber nod of his head. She glanced at Wilhelm and John on the seat across from her. Wilhelm's bright smile that seemed permanently glued to his face was nowhere to be seen and John's fists and jaw were clenched so hard she imagined it must be painful. She looked down at her black funeral dress and remembered why. She turned her eyes up to peer out of the window of the carriage to sweep her gaze across the graveyard. Her father was to be buried today. Just days prior, he had succumbed to the same illness here mother had all those years ago. It was fitting to Jane in a macabre way that they leave this world in the same manner. The carriage door swung open and their footman held out his hand for Jane to take. She took it and climbed out of the carriage on shaky legs. "Thank you, Jeremy," she stepped aside to let her brothers out.
"Of course, madam," Jeremy's gray head nodded. She looked around to see dozens of other carriages with people stepping out dressed in black from head to toe. Her father certainly was a popular man. She ran her fingers over her black shawl that was draped over her arms. She felt a hand slip into her own and looked over to be met with the dark blue eyes of her brother John. She squeezed his hand reassuringly and gave him a tight-lipped smile that he tried to return. She looked over at Wilhelm and felt a pang of crippling sorrow as she took in his unhappy face that she knew resembled her own. When Jeremy closed the carriage door behind Hugh they began to walk across the short grass to the six-foot-deep hole in the ground and the coffin that stood near it. The casket was beautiful, made of solid mahogany wood complete with ornate designs. As lovely as it was itself, she felt a wave of grief and sadness wash over her at the sight of it. She knew exactly what laid inside of it, though it was hard for her to believe. She and her brothers sat in the four chairs that were placed in front of the coffin. She heard the sound of people coming to stand behind her. She once again squeezed the hand she had not yet let go of and she felt John squeeze back. She grabbed Wilhelm's hand as well, and she didn't have to look to know that he in turned had grabbed Hugh's.
Throughout the ceremony, their heads remained high and their posture perfect. She, John, and Hugh all kept their faces as devoid of expression as possible though Wilhelm cried silently throughout the ceremony. They only managed this feat through clinging onto each other's hands until their knuckles turned white. The occasional squeeze and the brushing of a thumb over knuckles kept them from breaking apart. She only broke her stone expression twice during the two hour long funeral. First, when the minister called Hugh up to say a few words about his late father. Jane took a sharp intake of breath. The minister had made a mistake, this had not been planned.
Hugh closed his eyes for just a moment and stood up, walking steadily to face the crowd. To everyone standing in the crowd behind Jane, Hugh seemed like the perfect example of composure. It was only the three teenagers sitting that could see through his façade, noting the telltale signs such as the way the muscle in his jaw moved and how he blinked three times as often as normal. When he began to speak, his voice was strong and steady. "Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for coming to see my father off. It was you, his friends and family," his eyes flickered down to his siblings, "that gave him a life he loved. I am proud to call him my father, and will forever look back on my childhood with fond eyes because of his presence. Although I can't say that I am used to him begin gone yet, I already know that death is not the end. Death is not the end as we will still carry him in our hearts and keep him alive through tales spoken to our children. We all shall miss him, but I myself take comfort in knowing that he has been reunited with my mother in the heavens," Jane heard Wilhelm's quiet sniffle beside her and felt a single tear roll down her cheek, "My father would not want us to waste tears over him. In fact, I think he would be more upset if we didn't celebrate his life and accomplishments instead of mourning over the years he has now forfeited. Thank you again for coming," he nodded his head at the mass of black frills and suits. He tilted his head at his siblings and John and Wilhelm stood up and made their way towards him. An old friend of their fathers made his way out of the crowd as a volunteer to help, as he too knew what was happening. The four men each grabbed a handle of the coffin and made the painstakingly slow process of lowering their father into his final resting spot. Once they managed to place him gently on the bottom, the man she now recognized as James Whitham stepped back to his wife's side. Jane stood up silently now and stepped between her brothers.
Hugh grabbed the shovel first and scooped a sizeable amount of the displaced dirt onto it. He let the dirt fall onto the casket without another word and handed the shovel over to John. As John turned over the shovel and let the dirt sprinkle down he whispered, "I miss you already, Father."
It was now Wilhelm's turn. He took the shovel that was heavy in his hands and struggled to load as much dirt onto it as he possibly could. For the first time, Jane realized just how young they all were, especially Wilhelm. She let her eyes wander over his red rimmed eyes and quivering lip. To be orphaned so young was a truly disastrous thing. She blinked her tears away. When she heard Wilhelm mutter, "Say hi to Mommy for me," her resolve broke for the second and last time in front of all of the funeral goers. A second fat, hot tear escaped her eye and she quickly wiped it away. To hear Wilhelm refer to his mother as though he were six again broke her heart. She schooled her expression the best she could and took the shovel. She said nothing as she took her turn helping cover her father's body. She stepped back and handed the shovel to someone she didn't recognize. All of the guests stood in line, waiting to take their turn. She and her brothers were standing to the side in a small group. When she looked over each of their faces, she realized she hadn't spoken to any of them since the beginning of the funeral.
"I love you all," she suddenly said, "More than anything."
John's expression crumpled at her words and he hugged her and squeezed her to his chest as tight as he could. "I love you too, Janie. Wholeheartedly."
Wilhelm forced his way into their hug. "I love you so much. All of you," his voice cracked and she kissed the side of his blonde head.
John looked up expectantly at Hugh, who stared blankly back at him. It took just mere seconds for his resolve to crumble. He enveloped the three of them in his long arms and murmured, "I love you too." Jane knew this was not just meant for her, but her brothers as well. Their group embrace lasted only a couple more seconds until they pulled apart, still aware they were in a public venue. A few of the guests gave them peculiar looks, but most just had pity shining out at them. Jane couldn't help but shudder at that. Pity was a horrendous thing to feel for someone.