"E… Elizabeth?" Hercules breathed, tears forming.
She shakily nodded, her hands reaching up to slowly drag the beanie off of her head. It fell with a single movement, and she held it in her trembling hands. Her hair fell in a cascade, her dark locks contrasting against her white dress shirt and tan pants. Her black hair fell onto her shoulders, going down a few inches and stopping mid-stomach. Hair had fallen onto her face, covering her left eye and causing her to look emotionally deranged.
She sniffled, and we all jumped into action. Hercules rushed forward, gathering her in his arms and whispering in her ear. Her sobs lessened as they held each other, and Alex and I hung back for a moment to give the couple space. Her arms had snaked around Herc's neck, and they stood clinging to each other. It was very reminiscent of their last emotional reunion, and I bit back tears as my friends exchanged quiet 'I love you's. Alex had found my hand in the commotion, interlocking his shaky fingers with mine.
I smiled at the gesture, if only to frown at his response. He tugged my hand, and pulled me back into the living room with him. We could no longer see Herc and Eliza, but I think that's what he wanted. His face was set in a grimace, and I tilted my head in confusion and worry.
"Alex, hon, what's wrong?" I softly murmured, careful not to be loud enough for the others to hear. "Are you okay?"
"No." He fervently responded, matching my quiet tone, though adding passion to it. "John, what about the… the cellar, John. What do we do now that Eliza's here? We can't fucking show her the gruesome things, but we can't lie about something of that scale, what if the situation becomes dangerous? She can't get hurt, John. She can't."
Oh my god, how could I forget about the damn cellar…?
"No, I know, Alex, and she won't." I shook my head, formulating a response. "I… I don't know what to do now that she's in the mix. She's family, I don't want her wrapped up this as much as you."
"This changes it. Our whole plan, it's useless." Alex continued. "I am not risking Herc and Eliza's future for revenge, or answers, or whatever the hell we were hoping to get out of this trip."
I reluctantly nodded; I didn't want to endanger our friends, but I had wanted to find Hugh's murderer. I guess that hits the back burner until it's safer, and we have more of a constructed plan, and less spontaneous visitors.
"Guys?" Hercules called, his voice carrying from the kitchen. "Come here."
Alexander and I exchanged looks, curious as to what our friend had to say. I led us back into the kitchen, and sat down at the table. Alex took his place standing behind me and wrapped his arms around my neck, resting his chin on top of my head. Hercules was leaning his back against the counter, his hands grasping the edge of the surface. Eliza sat across from me, her fingers interlocked and nervously fiddling with each other. Her eyes were stuck to her fidgeting hands, and Hercules had glued his eyes to the floor the second we came in.
"Is… Is everything okay, Eliza?" Alex piped up, breaking the tension-filled silence.
Her head steadily rose, her deep mocha eyes meeting mine. Thick lines left by tears had dried on her rosy cheeks, the sight making my heart clench. I hated not knowing whether they were happy tears, from seeing Hercules, or sad tears, from something yet to be revealed.
"Everything is… not okay, Alexander." She quietly replied, maintaining eye contact for a few seconds before sobs began to wrack her body. She put her hand over her mouth, and covered her heart with her free hand.
"Oh, no, no, 'Liza, I'm sorry, don't cry…" Alex hurried around the table, wrapping his arms around Eliza' shoulders and muttering apologies into her hair. They held each other for a moment, me and Hercules hanging back to give them space.
"Alex, they… they came to the house." She sniffled, pulling away and firmly gripping Alex's sleeves. "My house. They were inside my home, Alexander. They could've… Oh god, I could've been killed."
With that she fell into more sobs, curling into Alex's chest. Hercules looked over them at me, giving a slight nod to indicate that we were to talk about it once Eliza was settled and safe.
"It… it was awful. I didn't think I was even going to survive it." She choked, her breath hitching. "Who did that, Alexander, do you know?"
She took a deep breath, halting her sobs for a moment to look at her ex-husband's worried face.
"No, no, I have no clue, Eliza." He quickly answered after a moment of pure what-the-hell-do-I-say.
"Thankfully," She continued. "Peggy was visiting later that day, and decided to come earlier than planned. She managed to fend them off by herself, all those fighting moves she's learned from watching you all spar paid off. I've never felt so… helpless."
"Eliza," Alex pulled her back into a hug, cupping the back of her head with his hand. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. I can't even imagine how scared you must've been."
As her light sobs subsided, Hercules stepped closer to take her from Alex's arms.
"Love," Hercules whispered, turning her around and pulling her close. "I'm so sorry we weren't there. I should've had soldiers keeping an eye on the house, it's my fault they went after you, Eliza. I… I understand if you can't forgive me."
She froze in his arms, and he reluctantly unwrapped his arms from around her. She looked at him with tiny orbs of water gathering in her eyes.
"Wha…. Hercules Mulligan, of course I can forgive you." She whispered, raising her hands to gently encompass his face. "I don't een nee to, though, because it's not your fault. It's never your fault, it's the fault of the person making the decision to hurt you. I love you, Hercules Schuyler."
He sniffed, a watery laugh escaping his lips. "I love you, too, Elizabeth Mulligan."
"Hey, uh, guys?" I broke in, albeit reluctantly. "I'm sorry, but we need a plan now that Eliza is here. What're we gonna do?"
"Go home. We're gonna go home, and I'm going to forget about this. Al the crap Hugh got himself into, that's buried with him." Hercules somberly nodded, still as he spoke.
"Darling…" Eliza began.
"No. This is too much, and I can't risk you being in anymore danger than you've already been in." He firmly stated, staring into her worried eyes.
She was at a loss for words, as was Alex and I. "Hercules, are you sure? I can handle it, plus, this is something that Hugh was a part of. Don't you want to figure out who else is in it?"
As Eliza attempted to convince him, Alex and I kept sending looks to one another. Looks that warned telling Eliza of the truth; the dark deeds currently hidden below the floorboards we stood on.
How the hell are we gonna fix this mess?
A/N: Oh, uhm, hi, guys. *awkwardly waves* Okay, so, I've been gone for a reaaaalllllyyyyy long time, sorry, but school and life have teamed up to make my time a mess and miserable. Ending this chapter was the first writing I've done in literal MONTHS. I really need to thank HufflepuffBook-Keeper, they asked me to beta for them and that kick-started me writing again, yaaaay! So, thank you so much for sticking with me if you're still interested in this story and willing to deal with my crazy update schedule. I appreciate every single person who reads/favorites/comments and every person who just reads it, you know? Even if you don't leave a review (even though they motivate me a TON), I still appreciate that you opened my story and gave it a shot. Thank you so much, guys, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Also I know this is a suuuuper short chapter, but bear with me, I'm giving myself a bit of a mental break, I've got midterms next week and I'm internally/emotionally dying.)