"My brother, Hugh, called a family meeting, and I had to leave." He breathed. "But, when I got there, he… I found his body, lying in a pool of… of blood."

Eliza sharply inhaled, and firmly squeezed Hercules' hand. Alexander and I lowered our heads, giving a moments silence for the fallen comrade. I had met Hugh a few years ago, and again when Hercules told me of his plan to smuggle information to his brother's revolutionary covenant.

Alexander had met him a few months ago, when Hercules had invited us to a bar while Hugh was in town. Hercules talked about all of us a lot, almost bragging about the fact that he knew such awesome revolutionaries. When Alex was introduced to Hugh, they both grinned and began some stupid competition about who knew the most embarrassing fact about the other.

"Okay, okay, but at least I never tried to ride a sheep to school." Alexander snorted, accidentally inhaling some of his beer.

"Right, of course, well, I was never nicknamed 'The Little Lion'," Hugh retorted, dropping off his bar stool and wrapping his jacket around his face, creating a fake mane. Alexander laughed, and nodded as he stuck his hand out.

"I think we'll get along great, Hugh." Hugh took his hand, dramatically shaking it.

Hercules and I had laughed as our friends chatted away like young school girls.

Those were the good days. The days when we all worked hard for the revolution, but still laughed together. Now, it's just… different, and we're losing people left and right.

But, I can't travel into that part of my mind right now. I need to stay in the present, I need to focus on my friend.

"…Before he, you know… So, I thought, maybe, he was calling me there to help fight against whoever killed him." Hercules' voice drifted into my mind, snapping me back to reality.

"What happened before Hugh…?" I whispered to Alexander, who was sitting straight up and focusing on our comrade. He turned his head to me, giving me a look.

"Really, John? He received a letter from Hugh," Alexander filled me in, leaning over so he could whisper in my ear. "a few days before he was killed."

"I'm so sorry, Hercules," Eliza croaked, wiping tears from her eyes with one hand, as her other was tightly interlocked with Hercules' hand. "He didn't deserve this… Neither did you, darling."

He heavily swallowed, closing his eyes before continuing. "So, I went home. My brother needed me, for whatever the hell reason, and I was going to help him. In his letter, he told me that unease was brewing amongst our boys over there. They needed reassurance that everything was going to be okay."

Alexander and I nodded, we had had a few run-ins with skeptical revolutionaries. The guys would gang around us, badgering us with 'how do you know's and 'is it even worth it's. Throw a couple fists and give some sappy pep talk and we're back on the road to victory.

"Did he name anybody specifically? Any known problem people?" I inquired. Alex nodded at my question and looked at Hercules.

"Yeah, anybody who's whipped up discord before?" He added.

Hercules stared into space for a moment, then shook his head. "No, not one person was directly named. Maybe it was a stranger, or a group of new comer-uppers?"

"That's right, it could be someone that's new on the scene and didn't like how Hugh was handling things." I agreed.

We all fell silent, our minds racing. Who the hell would want to murder a revolutionary? Yeah, yeah, I heard myself.

But Hugh was an unknown part of the fight, for the most part. He had friends who were more public, openly showing their support for the revolution. He stayed in the shadows, though, quietly running his covenant. Most people didn't even know he was the owner, they usually dealt with Samuel, Hugh's partner. Samuel acted as the leader, he was the guy to talk to if you had an issue or wanted in. Hugh was known as the town baker, for God's sake. People knew him as the pudgy giant who made soda bread and asked people how their families were doing. But who found out he was more? I wracked my brain for answers, coming up with nothing. It was too broad of a group.

Tons of people would have a problem with commoners uprising. Most notably, the wealthy would have issues with us. Maybe it was someone of status?

"This is useless!" Alexander threw his hands up in defeat, clambering to his feet. "Sitting here, wondering what jackass killed one of our own, isn't helping anything!"

"You're right, Alexander." Hercules nodded, slightly groaning as he stood from the bed. "This isn't getting anything done, we need to do something."

Eliza and I locked eyes. We both knew that meant our men were about to suggest something incredibly stupid.

"I suggest we go over there," Alexander began. "and launch a secret investigation. We have to find the cowardly motherfu-"

"Alexander Hamilton!" Eliza hissed, standing and smacking Alex upside the head. "Watch your language! The man who did the deed is a coward, among other things, but there's no need for vulgarity."

He bowed his head, muttering an apology. I lifted a hand and gently grasped her shoulder. She wearily raised her head towards me, her eyebrows going up in curiosity. I spoke in hushed tones, hoping to calm the tension in the room.

"Eliza, it's been a tough day," I glanced at Hercules. "Everyone's on the edge, we're all grown-ups, a tad bit of swearing isn't harmful."

She sighed. "I'm sorry, I just… I'm in a gray area right now. I don't know what to do, or how to deal with this. Scolding is, right now, the only thing I can control."

We all agreed. Sure, we'd lost friends before, but never someone so close. Never an actual member of our family.

Alexander was right; we must do something.

But, doing that something without repercussions will be nearly impossible. We couldn't just run off to Europe and seek vengeance. We needed a plan, something to follow.

"Why don't we all just take a breath," Hercules' voice broke the thick silence in the air. "and think of something that we can do, that won't be illegal or cause serious consequences."

Yeah, like how to legally kill someone for revenge.

Alexander had closed his eyes, and was simmering quietly, a hand pinching the bridge of his nose. Eliza's eyebrows were pushed together, her eyes were twitching under the lids, and she was deeply inhaling and exhaling. Both looked like the epitome of frustration.

"I need to go lie down for a bit." Eliza softly breathed, dropping her head and padding towards the door. "I'll speak with you boys later. Don't decide anything serious without me."

We grunted our agreements, and watched her depart.

"Men, let's take a break." Hercules' proposed, landing a hand on each of our shoulders. "We'll reconvene in the morning, after some much needed rest."

Alexander and I bobbed our heads simultaneously, flanking our friend and patting Hercules' shoulders.

"You get some good sleep, man." I instructed him. "Sleep in, Lord knows you deserve it."

"Yeah, don't stay up too late," Alexander waggled his eyebrows. "with, you know, a certain lady of yours."

Laughing at the sudden redness covering our friend's cheeks, we parted ways. Alexander trailed behind me, ascending the stairs to our rooms.

"You know, we should get some sleep, too." He whispered, putting his hand on the small of my back as we made it onto the landing. "Maybe we'd sleep better together? You know, for, uh, warmth?"

I chuckled. "Alexander, your subtlety needs some work."

"So, is that a yes?" He grinned, bumping my shoulder with his. I stifled a laugh at his eagerness, he looked like a kid in a candy shop.

"That's a yes." I consented. "But just cuddling, okay? I'm not ready for… other things."

"Of course, neither am I." He energetically bobbled his head, rubbing his hands together like a villain. "I'm so excited! It'll be our first sleep-over!"

I took his hand in mine, repressing another laugh at his giddiness. "Come on, let's go to bed."

A/N: So sorry that took so long, my inner muse has died:( I honestly don't know where I'm going with this story and have no clue when I'll next update... If y'all have any ideas, share away! Anyways, Please read and review! Thanks!