Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens were riding down a long, twisting path through the wooded area that surrounded the continental army base. Alex was trotting a few paces in front of John with a large smile on his face,

"I've never seen you look so happy to be out of camp," John mused, "Are you not worried Harrison will finish writing your letters without you?"

Alex glared at John over his shoulder, "He wouldn't dare,"

"No," John agreed, as he nudged his horse to speed up so he could ride side by side with Alex, "I don't think he would after you threatened to shoot him last time,"

Alex sighed dramatically, "I wouldn't have actually shot him,"

"Only because Washington wouldn't have let you,"

Alex let out a disgruntled humph, "As if he could have stopped me," he muttered,

John raised his eyebrow is disbelief, "We both know you wouldn't do anything that you know would disappoint Washington,"

"You never know, the General might be glad to get rid of Harrison,"

John laughed, "I doubt it, but seriously, you're never this happy to leave camp,"

Alex sighed, suddenly seeming much more sombre, "I know my wife isn't having an affair with a British officer," he said, looking down at his hands, "But it does start to get to you when that's all anyone seems to be able to talk about. Do they think I don't know what they've been talking about when everyone falls silent when I walk into a room? And the looks! I can't take any more of those pitying looks people keep giving me! Do they think they're being subtle‽"

"I don't think they know they're doing it," John said sympathetically,

"That might be worse!"

John sighed, if they weren't on horseback he would have reached out and placed a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder, "Anyone who thinks Eliza is having an affair clearly hasn't seen the two of you together. You're sickening," he said,

"We are not!"

"Oh my god you are! Laf and Herc would back me up, in fact, Washington would even agree with me,"

"He would not!"

"He would! You think everyone else isn't subtle, but we can tell every single time you get a letter from Eliza, you sort of glaze over and stare wistfully into the distance with a dopey smile on your face,"

"I do not,"

John smiled, "That's even harder to deny than the fact you're sickening. People have witnessed that one,"

Alex scowled at John, but he didn't try to deny it any further.

The two of them fell silent and John sighed, "Look, it sucks, I get it, but the fact everyone thinks Eliza is having an affair with a British officer means she's doing her job well. It would be way worse if everybody suddenly found out the truth and her cover got blown,"

"I know. I do and I'm not complaining about that. It's just being in camp is a bit much at the moment, hence why it's so nice to be out here," Alex spread his arms, indicating to the woods around them.

"I think this might be the first I've left the camp since you're wedding," John mused,

"Really? You need to get out more, John,"

"I don't think Herc has left camp since then either and he's not here today so, he's doing worse than me,"

"We will have to come up with a reason for Herc to come with us next time we leave the camp then,"

"I'm sure Washington will love that, 'sir, we need to-' Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That crunching sound – There it is again!"

"I heard it that time," Alex whispered. He placed his hand on his gun and moved closer to John. The two of them quietly looked around, trying to spot anyone in the overgrowth that surrounded them. However, after two minutes, they still hadn't seen anyone,

"Maybe we were imagining it?" John suggested,

"It was probably just an animal," Alex said, relaxing his grip on his gun.

Just as the two of them relaxed, however, they heard footsteps behind them. Alex spun around and grabbed his gun, but, before he could do anything, something hard hit him on the back of his head, and everything went black.

Washington was sat at his desk, proofreading one of Alex's letters to congress, when one of his aides, a young man by the name of Corbin, ran in. He hurried straight over to Washington's desk and slammed an envelope down. Washington raised his eyebrow at the man.

"Sir," Corbin gasped. He was out of breath, and he'd clearly ran all the way to HQ, "This was just delivered, the rider said it was urgent,"

Washington picked up the envelope and turned it over in his hand. It was distinctly British. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, he pried the envelope open. Inside was a single, folded piece of paper. Washington carefully took it out and unfolded it. It read:

'We have captured your aides Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton. If you wish to see them again you will leave the city by midnight in three days' time.'

On the bottom of the page was a smudge of blood and what was unmistakably John's and Alex's signatures.

"What does it say?"

Washington looked up to see that the entire tent had stopped working and were watching him, Harrison had even looked up from the letter he'd been writing. He passed the letter to Corbin and nodded at him, indicating that he should read it aloud. As Corbin read the note to the rest of the HQ, Washington picked up a blank piece of paper and started to write a new letter.

Once Corbin had finished there was a moment of shocked silence before the entire tent erupted into noise, everyone was shouting at once and it was impossible to pick out what everyone was saying.

Washington sighed and rubbed his temple, "Enough!" he shouted, causing HQ to fall silent. He stood up and put the letter he'd been writing into a fresh envelope. "Corbin, please deliver this to Eliza Hamilton, and escort her back here,"

"Sir!" Harrison cried, jumping to his feet, "She's a British spy!"

"Her husband has been captured; don't you think she has a right to know?"

"But to invite her here?"

Washington turned to stare at Harrison, "Are you questioning my orders?"

Harrison looked down at his feet, "No Sir,"

"Good. You're all dismissed."