p class="MsoNormal"A few months later, things were a lot different in the Hamilton household. John Laurens was a regular in their kitchen. He would come over after school and start making dinner, taking phone calls in between. Alex's face lit up whenever he walked in the door and saw him standing at the stove in an apron, stirring something that smelled delicious. Everyday, he walked over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek, his stress immediately melting away from the day./p
p class="MsoNormal"Alex was doing amazing at his job as campaign manager for George Washington. They were in the midst of primary season and George was already ahead in the polls. They liked his 'father figure' attitude and his warm smile. He always had a calm, collected response to any negative press. Alex was the one who exploded when needed. In fact, the Saturday night before somebody had protrayed him on Saturday Night Live. Everyone laughed their asses off for days. It was the perfect sketch./p
p class="MsoNormal"At work, the tensions between Alex and Thomas Jefferson were getting a bit more intense. Thomas believed that he deserved the job that Alex received. He was still an instrumental part of George's campaign, a close advisor, but he wasn't the campain manager. He didn't get all the glory. Their fights were getting louder, but luckily they hadn't become public yet./p
p class="MsoNormal"Angelica's relationship with Thomas was still a secret. When she found out her niece was with his son, she couldn't justify telling anyone. The high schoolers would break up eventually and that was when they would tell her family. The secret felt dirty and it was starting to eat Angelica alive. But, there was nothing she could do./p
p class="MsoNormal"Not only was Alex fighting with Thomas, he was dealing with a brooding Aaron Burr. Aaron felt like he was demoted. At this point, he was basically Alex's assistant. He always had been, but before their was more responsibility attatched to that position. He felt as if someday Alex would recommend him for a better job. That didn't seem to be happening. In fact, Alex was complaining about Burr even more than normal. He said that Aaron didn't have a backbone and was always trying to sensor his speeches./p
p class="MsoNormal"Everyday that her father came home and complained about Mr. Hamilton, Theodosia became more afraid to tell him about her relationship with his son. Philip wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea either, especially after he made such a fuss about Angie being with a Jefferson. So, they continued to sneak around, but the guilt weighed heavily on their minds./p
p class="MsoNormal"Angie Hamilton was still with Peter Jefferson. Her brother fought long and hard to keep them apart, but she fought against him equally has hard. Eventually, he let her be. About a month ago, they had a huge fight. She thought it wasn't fixable. They were at his house when it happened. He screamed, yelled, and threw things while she apologized through tears. When she came home, there were cuts on her hands from a glass that he broke and bruises on her arm from when he grabbed her in a moment of passion./p
p class="MsoNormal"When she came home, Angie was a mess. Philip heard her crying from the next room over, even though she tried to muffle it. Her dad was already asleep. John was staying over. So, Philip took it upon himself to check on her. She cried and cried but she wouldn't tell him what was wrong./p
p class="MsoNormal""Angie, does this have something to do with Peter?" He asked worriedly, holding her to his chest. She didn't respond. She just cried, because Peter loved her. This didn't mean anything. He sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get an answer out of her./p
p class="MsoNormal"Angie's hand was awkwardly placed behind her, so Philip went to move it onto his lap, noticing the cuts for the first time. "Oh god, Angie! You're bleeding! C'mere." He stood her up and brought her to the bathroom, cleaning the wounds and placing bandages on them./p
p class="MsoNormal"After an hour or so of Philip staying with her and Angie still not saying a word, she finally choked out, "Not a word of this to Dad, John, or Angelica."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Philip frowned. Now that they had three parent-like figures, she had to specify that he couldn't say anything to any of them. "Angie, I can't promise that," he sighed./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her tears became angry. "You have to. Not a word, Philip Hamilton." She became frantic, her eyes wandering, thinking about Peter. "O-Or I'll tell them about Theodosia."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Suddenly, Philip didn't recognize his sister anymore. This was a side of her he had never seen. He knew it was Peter that was having the effect on her. She was in love with him, and he was scared for her. He put her to bed with a quiet promise, because he knew that he couldn't give up his love either./p
p class="MsoNormal"The next morning, Angie acted as if nothing happened. Philip tried to talk to her about it, but she denied all of his attempts. When she got to school, Peter apologized and kissed her in a way he never had before. Angie told him that he was willing to look past all of it. She would do anything for him./p
p class="MsoNormal"~/p
p class="MsoNormal"On Wednesday, March 23suprd/sup 2016, everything seemed normal. It had been a few weeks since Angie's incident with Peter and Alex was so involved with his love life and his job that he was a bit blind to the things that were going on. He wasn't around much, but when he was, he was with John./p
p class="MsoNormal"As they did everyday, Angie and Philip walked Will to school, and then went on their own way to the high school. They made light conversation, but everything had been a bit tense since that night in her room. Angie tried to keep her head up and forget what had happened. Peter had been a lot sweeter to her after it happened. She kept telling herself that he loved her./p
p class="MsoNormal"There was one class that Angie, Peter, Theodosia, and Philip had together, and that was journalism. They wrote articles every week and critiqued each other, and they also put out a paper once a week. They all had a passion for it./p
p class="MsoNormal"Angie was standing with Peter when her phone buzzed four times in a row. "Who's texting you so much?" He asked her, leaning over to look at her phone. Angie pressed her home button and saw the name 'Lafayette' on her screen./p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, it's just a kid from my French class," she replied non-chalantly./p
p class="MsoNormal""Let me see," he said, taking her phone and scrolling through it. He typed something out and then handed it back to her for her to read. It basically told the boy to 'back off of his girl'./p
p class="MsoNormal""Peter, you shouldn't have done that," Angie sighed. "I love you, not him. You don't have to be worried."/p
p class="MsoNormal"He grabbed onto her arm and she winced. It was a tighter grab than she was used to. "You're mine, Angelica Hamilton," he said with a more serious face. He said that all the time, but for the first time in a few weeks, she was afraid of his words. Her eyes widened and she tried to move away from him, but he wouldn't let her go./p
p class="MsoNormal"While he was standing with Theodosia, Philip saw his sister out of the corner of his eye. He watched her try to shake away from her boyfriend. Then, he saw the scared look in her eye. "Get away from her!" He screamed, running over to them and pushing Peter off of her./p
p class="MsoNormal"Angie stood behind him. For once, she wasn't going to stand in her brother's way. Peter was getting worse. Peter had an insane look in his eye. He was about to fight back when a shot rang out somewhere in the school./p
p class="MsoNormal"~/p
p class="MsoNormal""Everybody to the corner of the room!" The teacher yelled. Then, he checked for students outside the door before quickly locking it and turning off the lights in the classroom. "Stay quiet!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"John Laurens, the principal, came over the announcements and said, "The school is on lock down. This is not a drill." Then, it clicked off and he was gone./p
p class="MsoNormal"Philip grabbed Angie's hand and brought her to the other side of the room from Peter. Theodosia followed. "Philip," she whispered through tears. "I'm scared."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's okay, Angie," Theodosia whispered in a soothing voice. "We're safe in here. It's going to be okay." However, she didn't quite believe her own words. She felt that, because she was older, she needed to be calm for all of the underclassmen in the room. In reality, whoever had that gun could come in that room in any moment./p
p class="MsoNormal"Philip began to take action. "We're going to call Dad, okay?" Angie nodded, tears streaming down her face. The phone rang a few times, but the line was busy. They couldn't reach him. "We'll try again in a few minutes," he assured her./p
p class="MsoNormal""Angie," Peter whispered from across the room. "Angie, I'm sorry."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Mr. Jefferson, now is not the time," the teacher scolded him. "Silence, please." He looked just as afraid as the rest of them. Peter stewed in anger. He didn't look afraid at all./p
p class="MsoNormal"There was ten minutes of deafening silence, except for whimpering here and there, before there was a banging on the door. Angie gasped and cried into Philip's chest. He put his arm around her and gripped Theodosia's hand with the other./p
p class="MsoNormal"The banging continued until suddenly, the door burst open. Two men, both armed, walked into the room and flicked the lights up, screaming, "Everybody up! Now!" They all did as they were told, standing in fear. "Who in here is a Hamilton?" Angie's eyes widened even farther and Philip held her close to him, gripping onto her for dear life. Theodosia held his hand as if she never planned on letting go. They demanded an answer. "Tell us or we start shooting!" They screamed./p
p class="MsoNormal"Philip raised a shaky hand, letting go of his sister. "No!" Angie screamed, then put her hand over mouth. She shouldn't have done that./p
p class="MsoNormal""Is this your sister?" They asked. Philip could've sworn he saw a smile behind their masks. When he didn't say anything, they took it as a yes. They ripped Angie from Philip's arms while she screamed./p
p class="MsoNormal""No! Don't take her! Take me!" He screamed, but Theodosia held him back./p
p class="MsoNormal""We're not going to hurt her," they assured him. Yet, at the same time, they had Angie down on her knees, her hands behind her back, and guns in their hands. She was sobbing quietly at this point, unable to even manage any sound. "Your Daddy just needs to give us what we want."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know what you're talking about!" Philip screamed, and then ran forward to his sister. The man who had been speaking knocked him back with the bunt of his gun. He fell back hard./p
p class="MsoNormal""Call him! Call your father!" He demanded. Philip scrambled to his feet and pulled his phone out of his pocket, praying that his father would pick up this time./p
p class="MsoNormal"He put the phone on speaker and the man snatched from his hand. Alex picked up on the first ring. "Philip? Are you with Angie? Are you okay?" He said quickly, his voice panicked and frantic./p
p class="MsoNormal""Alexander Hamilton, you have made a big mistake."/p
p class="MsoNormal""What are you doing with my kids?" He screamed./p
p class="MsoNormal""You have a file. You know the one we're talking about. The one you're not supposed to have."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know what you're talking-"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes! You do!" He screamed in response. Then, in a more diplomatic voice, he said, "Either you give us the file or your children get shot. The girl is first. You have a half an hour." Then, he hung up the phone./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Alex was doing amazing at his job as campaign manager for George Washington. They were in the midst of primary season and George was already ahead in the polls. They liked his 'father figure' attitude and his warm smile. He always had a calm, collected response to any negative press. Alex was the one who exploded when needed. In fact, the Saturday night before somebody had protrayed him on Saturday Night Live. Everyone laughed their asses off for days. It was the perfect sketch./p
p class="MsoNormal"At work, the tensions between Alex and Thomas Jefferson were getting a bit more intense. Thomas believed that he deserved the job that Alex received. He was still an instrumental part of George's campaign, a close advisor, but he wasn't the campain manager. He didn't get all the glory. Their fights were getting louder, but luckily they hadn't become public yet./p
p class="MsoNormal"Angelica's relationship with Thomas was still a secret. When she found out her niece was with his son, she couldn't justify telling anyone. The high schoolers would break up eventually and that was when they would tell her family. The secret felt dirty and it was starting to eat Angelica alive. But, there was nothing she could do./p
p class="MsoNormal"Not only was Alex fighting with Thomas, he was dealing with a brooding Aaron Burr. Aaron felt like he was demoted. At this point, he was basically Alex's assistant. He always had been, but before their was more responsibility attatched to that position. He felt as if someday Alex would recommend him for a better job. That didn't seem to be happening. In fact, Alex was complaining about Burr even more than normal. He said that Aaron didn't have a backbone and was always trying to sensor his speeches./p
p class="MsoNormal"Everyday that her father came home and complained about Mr. Hamilton, Theodosia became more afraid to tell him about her relationship with his son. Philip wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea either, especially after he made such a fuss about Angie being with a Jefferson. So, they continued to sneak around, but the guilt weighed heavily on their minds./p
p class="MsoNormal"Angie Hamilton was still with Peter Jefferson. Her brother fought long and hard to keep them apart, but she fought against him equally has hard. Eventually, he let her be. About a month ago, they had a huge fight. She thought it wasn't fixable. They were at his house when it happened. He screamed, yelled, and threw things while she apologized through tears. When she came home, there were cuts on her hands from a glass that he broke and bruises on her arm from when he grabbed her in a moment of passion./p
p class="MsoNormal"When she came home, Angie was a mess. Philip heard her crying from the next room over, even though she tried to muffle it. Her dad was already asleep. John was staying over. So, Philip took it upon himself to check on her. She cried and cried but she wouldn't tell him what was wrong./p
p class="MsoNormal""Angie, does this have something to do with Peter?" He asked worriedly, holding her to his chest. She didn't respond. She just cried, because Peter loved her. This didn't mean anything. He sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get an answer out of her./p
p class="MsoNormal"Angie's hand was awkwardly placed behind her, so Philip went to move it onto his lap, noticing the cuts for the first time. "Oh god, Angie! You're bleeding! C'mere." He stood her up and brought her to the bathroom, cleaning the wounds and placing bandages on them./p
p class="MsoNormal"After an hour or so of Philip staying with her and Angie still not saying a word, she finally choked out, "Not a word of this to Dad, John, or Angelica."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Philip frowned. Now that they had three parent-like figures, she had to specify that he couldn't say anything to any of them. "Angie, I can't promise that," he sighed./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her tears became angry. "You have to. Not a word, Philip Hamilton." She became frantic, her eyes wandering, thinking about Peter. "O-Or I'll tell them about Theodosia."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Suddenly, Philip didn't recognize his sister anymore. This was a side of her he had never seen. He knew it was Peter that was having the effect on her. She was in love with him, and he was scared for her. He put her to bed with a quiet promise, because he knew that he couldn't give up his love either./p
p class="MsoNormal"The next morning, Angie acted as if nothing happened. Philip tried to talk to her about it, but she denied all of his attempts. When she got to school, Peter apologized and kissed her in a way he never had before. Angie told him that he was willing to look past all of it. She would do anything for him./p
p class="MsoNormal"~/p
p class="MsoNormal"On Wednesday, March 23suprd/sup 2016, everything seemed normal. It had been a few weeks since Angie's incident with Peter and Alex was so involved with his love life and his job that he was a bit blind to the things that were going on. He wasn't around much, but when he was, he was with John./p
p class="MsoNormal"As they did everyday, Angie and Philip walked Will to school, and then went on their own way to the high school. They made light conversation, but everything had been a bit tense since that night in her room. Angie tried to keep her head up and forget what had happened. Peter had been a lot sweeter to her after it happened. She kept telling herself that he loved her./p
p class="MsoNormal"There was one class that Angie, Peter, Theodosia, and Philip had together, and that was journalism. They wrote articles every week and critiqued each other, and they also put out a paper once a week. They all had a passion for it./p
p class="MsoNormal"Angie was standing with Peter when her phone buzzed four times in a row. "Who's texting you so much?" He asked her, leaning over to look at her phone. Angie pressed her home button and saw the name 'Lafayette' on her screen./p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, it's just a kid from my French class," she replied non-chalantly./p
p class="MsoNormal""Let me see," he said, taking her phone and scrolling through it. He typed something out and then handed it back to her for her to read. It basically told the boy to 'back off of his girl'./p
p class="MsoNormal""Peter, you shouldn't have done that," Angie sighed. "I love you, not him. You don't have to be worried."/p
p class="MsoNormal"He grabbed onto her arm and she winced. It was a tighter grab than she was used to. "You're mine, Angelica Hamilton," he said with a more serious face. He said that all the time, but for the first time in a few weeks, she was afraid of his words. Her eyes widened and she tried to move away from him, but he wouldn't let her go./p
p class="MsoNormal"While he was standing with Theodosia, Philip saw his sister out of the corner of his eye. He watched her try to shake away from her boyfriend. Then, he saw the scared look in her eye. "Get away from her!" He screamed, running over to them and pushing Peter off of her./p
p class="MsoNormal"Angie stood behind him. For once, she wasn't going to stand in her brother's way. Peter was getting worse. Peter had an insane look in his eye. He was about to fight back when a shot rang out somewhere in the school./p
p class="MsoNormal"~/p
p class="MsoNormal""Everybody to the corner of the room!" The teacher yelled. Then, he checked for students outside the door before quickly locking it and turning off the lights in the classroom. "Stay quiet!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"John Laurens, the principal, came over the announcements and said, "The school is on lock down. This is not a drill." Then, it clicked off and he was gone./p
p class="MsoNormal"Philip grabbed Angie's hand and brought her to the other side of the room from Peter. Theodosia followed. "Philip," she whispered through tears. "I'm scared."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's okay, Angie," Theodosia whispered in a soothing voice. "We're safe in here. It's going to be okay." However, she didn't quite believe her own words. She felt that, because she was older, she needed to be calm for all of the underclassmen in the room. In reality, whoever had that gun could come in that room in any moment./p
p class="MsoNormal"Philip began to take action. "We're going to call Dad, okay?" Angie nodded, tears streaming down her face. The phone rang a few times, but the line was busy. They couldn't reach him. "We'll try again in a few minutes," he assured her./p
p class="MsoNormal""Angie," Peter whispered from across the room. "Angie, I'm sorry."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Mr. Jefferson, now is not the time," the teacher scolded him. "Silence, please." He looked just as afraid as the rest of them. Peter stewed in anger. He didn't look afraid at all./p
p class="MsoNormal"There was ten minutes of deafening silence, except for whimpering here and there, before there was a banging on the door. Angie gasped and cried into Philip's chest. He put his arm around her and gripped Theodosia's hand with the other./p
p class="MsoNormal"The banging continued until suddenly, the door burst open. Two men, both armed, walked into the room and flicked the lights up, screaming, "Everybody up! Now!" They all did as they were told, standing in fear. "Who in here is a Hamilton?" Angie's eyes widened even farther and Philip held her close to him, gripping onto her for dear life. Theodosia held his hand as if she never planned on letting go. They demanded an answer. "Tell us or we start shooting!" They screamed./p
p class="MsoNormal"Philip raised a shaky hand, letting go of his sister. "No!" Angie screamed, then put her hand over mouth. She shouldn't have done that./p
p class="MsoNormal""Is this your sister?" They asked. Philip could've sworn he saw a smile behind their masks. When he didn't say anything, they took it as a yes. They ripped Angie from Philip's arms while she screamed./p
p class="MsoNormal""No! Don't take her! Take me!" He screamed, but Theodosia held him back./p
p class="MsoNormal""We're not going to hurt her," they assured him. Yet, at the same time, they had Angie down on her knees, her hands behind her back, and guns in their hands. She was sobbing quietly at this point, unable to even manage any sound. "Your Daddy just needs to give us what we want."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know what you're talking about!" Philip screamed, and then ran forward to his sister. The man who had been speaking knocked him back with the bunt of his gun. He fell back hard./p
p class="MsoNormal""Call him! Call your father!" He demanded. Philip scrambled to his feet and pulled his phone out of his pocket, praying that his father would pick up this time./p
p class="MsoNormal"He put the phone on speaker and the man snatched from his hand. Alex picked up on the first ring. "Philip? Are you with Angie? Are you okay?" He said quickly, his voice panicked and frantic./p
p class="MsoNormal""Alexander Hamilton, you have made a big mistake."/p
p class="MsoNormal""What are you doing with my kids?" He screamed./p
p class="MsoNormal""You have a file. You know the one we're talking about. The one you're not supposed to have."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know what you're talking-"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes! You do!" He screamed in response. Then, in a more diplomatic voice, he said, "Either you give us the file or your children get shot. The girl is first. You have a half an hour." Then, he hung up the phone./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p