*SLIGHT TRIGFER WARNING* This chapter does mention rape. while it does not go into detail, it is still mentioned, please beware* Hope you guys enjoy this lengthy and very emotional chapter.

ALEXANDER'S POV*

I heard a muffled scream. That couldn't be good. James was at Peggy's because I dropped him off and the other kids were at school. It had to be Eliza. I had just finished cleaning up the apple juice, so I ran after her. The bedroom looked normal, but Eliza wouldn't scream unless she had a reason to. I looked at the bathroom. The door was cracked open, and there was a figure that had extremely curly hair hunched over something. More like someone…

Eliza! I ran over and busted the door. I didn't care who it was, they were going to be hurt no matter what. This person, which I discovered very quickly was actually Thomas Jefferson, had wasted no time. He had stripped her down to nothing, and he had pulled down his pants just enough. He was raping my wife, and there was a lot of blood on her and now him. I yanked him off of her, pulling my fist back to punch him time after time again. I wasn't going to stop until I heard her.

"Alex…" her voice was just above a whisper.

I let his unconscious body drop to the floor and rushed back to her. She was still naked, just laying on the floor crying, still bleeding from the region below the belt. I grabbed a towel and did my best to wrap her and cover her as I cradled her body. She clung to me tightly, afraid to let go. I managed to get up without dropping her fragile body. I moved her towards the bed, and gave her one of my night shirts to comfort her. I noticed that when she laid down, she was basically passed out from trauma, so I made sure that she ended up with my shirt on her. I left her wrapped in a towel, so that way the blood that was on her earlier didn't stain the bed. I watched her sleep for a moment. I am happy that she is at least resting now.

I went back to the bathroom. The intruder needed to be taken care of, and I had a solution that would work for the meantime. I yanked him up and took him to my home office. I kept a bunch of spare handkerchiefs in there, and I could tie him to my chair so he doesn't move. I decided it would be the best method to keep him for now. Jefferson's limp body laid in the chair, and I took liberty to tie him up. It took 6 handkerchiefs and bandanas to tie him up around his wrist, ankles, and mouth so he would move. I locked my office door, and made my way back to my wife.

She was still asleep, which was good. I didn't notice, but there was a lot of blood on the floor and now on the bed. I looked at her, suspiciously. Did she just… have a miscarriage... because of trauma? I ignored it for the moment, deciding to call Washington to have him come over here now.

I went back out to the kitchen to call him. It rang twice, "Alex, what can I do for you?"

"This is an odd request, sir, but can you check to see if Jefferson is at the office or not?"

"I can. May I ask why?"

"Working from home. We have some spare funds for forign affairs, and I wanted to see what he wanted to do with them, sir."

"Alright." He pauses for a moment, "It appears that he is not here, Alex."

"Okay. I have another question. How quickly can you get over to my house?"

"I can be there in 15 minutes. Why?"

"Cause I know Jefferson wasn't there. It's because he was raping my wife in my bathroom."

"I'll be there soon. Hang tight, Alex."

15 minutes was more like 10 minutes. He must have sped to get here. He quickly exited his car and came over to where I sat on the porch, waiting for him. I stood up when I noticed he was approaching. He gave me a hug before I could even say a word. When we stepped apart, I was already trying to hold back tears. I didn't have a father growing up, this was the closest thing I had to a dad. And he cared about not only me, but Eliza. We walked side by side.

Before we made it past the kitchen, I had to warn him of the blood. "Now, before we move any further, I should say that Eliza is- or maybe it is was at this point and time- pregnant. There was a lot of blood. Not only on her, but on him. Some of it is on the bed. I was too worried about her to clean it up, so the majority of the blood is still on the floor."

He didn't have words to say. He just hugged me again. The embrace shocked me, or confused me. I led the way to her. She was awake when I came in. Her face was red, eyes lost in thoughts and confusion, and she had tears streaming down her cheeks. She had moved so she was under the covers. The towel was on the floor. It was no longer white. It was a vivid red with a dark hinge to it. I broke when I saw that. I walked over to her, quickly. Washington remained at the door, trying to be respectful and give her space. I could hear him stifle a sob by coughing.

I hugged her body so tight, I was shocked when she didn't break into my hands. "We lost it, Alex…"

I started to cry into her, she cried with me. Saying that she was pregnant earlier didn't feel real, probably because I didn't believe myself when the words came out. Her confirmation made it so much more real. I didn't hear Washington move closer to us, but when his hand was rubbing my back, I didn't flinch away. I welcomed the support.

"I'm so sorry… If I was home sooner… or if I was better at supporting you…" I mumbled aimlessly to her, to myself. I take the blame for this. For all of this.

"Alex, you can't prevent what you can't control." He said to me.

I let go of her. I was hesitant to do so, but she gave me a look that I couldn't ignore. She slipped out of bed. She was wearing athletic shorts, though you couldn't tell because of my shirt. I could feel her discomfort for the situation, which means that George most definitely felt it, too. To hide this, she wrapped her arm around mine, like she was gripping for dear life. I just leaned down and kissed her head.

Nobody wanted to break the silence, but it would have stayed so quiet for so long unless someone spoke up. George was the one to do so, "Eliza, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. If there is anything Martha and I can do during this time, let us know."

She wiped a tear and gave a solemn nod. I cleared my throat, "I was going to show George kinda what happened. Do you want to help me or would you rather not? You don't have to, I don't want to make you panic or anything."

"I will. I'll never get over it if I don't talk about it." She said, her voice was weak. She cleared her throat, and then she began, "I was having a rough day. My sister is moving an ocean away from me, and I needed someone. So I called Alex, which I figure you know about. He wasn't late, but it took him longer to get home, so I started to panic. I don't know why, but my brain instantly said that he left me for someone who wasn't messed up in the head and who wasn't pregnant. I made a choice to basically break down. I was drinking apple juice straight from the container and I was a crying mess. He came home a little bit after. I was already upset, so when he asked me why I was crying, I word-vomited. That is a completely different story for another time. It ended with me being soak in the apple juice for whatever reason. I went to take a shower. When I got into my bedroom, I noticed the window was open. We normally don't open the windows, so that was odd. I just closed it and got ready for my shower, which involved me stripping down into my under garments and putting on a robe. Then, I noticed the bathroom door was closed. We normally don't close the bathroom door because I have a fear that someone or something is hiding in my bathroom. I, foolishly, ignored it. I went in, closed the door behind me and just had a weird gut feeling. He was there. He jumped on me, pulling me down to the floor. He was quick. Pulling down his clothes and then mine. I tried to scream, but his hand was over my mouth. I felt weak, I couldn't breathe, I was helpless. He had his way with me. I was pretty sure I had passed out. Then, I remember feeling free. Alex was there, beating him, hunching over his already limp body. He noticed when I said his name, and it got him to stop. I may not like Jefferson, but he doesn't deserve to feel so much pain. I remember being set on the bed and that's it. I'll let Alex take it from here."

I took a deep breath. She was amazing, but I could tell by the way she was leaning into my body, she was close to passing out. She left my arm to sit on the bed. I followed her, making sure she was okay. I shook my head, trying to focus.

"Right, so, I heard a muffled scream. Saw something leaning over something. Realized it was a man leaning over my wife. I was freaking out. I busted our door open, ripped this guy off of her. I started just pounding the shit out of him. I was so angry, I still am. Then, her voice was faint but she called for me. I dropped everything I got her situated. Tied him up in my office. Called you, and now we're."

George huffed, "You two get into a lot of stressful situations."

Eliza rolled her eyes, and I laughed, "You have no idea…"

"Let's go see the culprit, then I'll leave so you can… mourn or clean up or do whatever you need to do."