Corset in Congress (A Hamilton Genderbend)

Chapter Sixteen: Meet Me Inside

Washington's POV

I hear the echo of a gunshot, and anger flares in me. What part of my order did Hamilton not understand? I stand in preparation to go and yell at some idiots.

"Lee, do you yield!" I hear her call from outside, and then a furious reply from Burr.

"You shot him in the side! Yes, he yields!"

Laurens' voice chimes in. "I'm satisfied!" So that's who did it. You'd think someone clever enough to break the rules would be wise enough to understand why they are there in the first place.

"Yo, we gotta clear the field!" I hear Burr yell, and I start to think maybe I made a mistake choosing Hamilton instead of him. At least he doesn't disobey direct orders!

Hamilton, ecstatic, shouts, "Go! We won!"

As I stride out of the building I hear gasps and people say, "Here comes the General!"

Burr sighs. "This should be fun."

As I reach the sight, I see Burr supporting a semi-conscious General Lee, who is bleeding profusely from a wound in his abdomen. "Mr. Burr, get a medic for the General!" I order, and to my relief he complies. Somebody around here listens to their superiors, at least. 

"Yes, sir!" he says quickly, then focuses on grabbing the woman Alexandra had selected before the duel commenced.

I turn and address the wounded man laying beneath me. "Lee, you will never agree with me, but believe me, these young people don't speak for me! Thank you for your service," I say, bowing my head to me.

His eyes slip closed, and Burr lifts Lee into his arms, carrying him to the medic's tent, with the doctor floating at his elbow. It's a miracle he didn't slip on the slick blood coating the ground. "Let's ride!"

"Hamilton!" I yell, my face red and my hands shaking with anger.

She looks up at me, defiant. "Sir!"

Then I lower my voice to a quiet, dangerous tone. "Meet me inside."

I hear the soldiers as they gossip and chant my words mockingly at Alexandra as she follows me into my office, but I make no move to stop them. Alexandra earned her insults.

I sit down at my desk, suddenly tired. I rub my hand across my forehead and eyes, before starting, gently, "Sister--"

"Don't call me sister," she snarls, and I relent.

I try a more intellectual approach instead of an emotional one. "This war is hard enough without infighting--"

She talks over me,  forgetting in her anger my position in relation to hers. "Lee called you out. We called his bluff!"

"You solve nothing!" I yell, frustrated. "You aggravate our allies to the south!"

"You're absolutely right," Alexandra agrees, and it throws me off. But then she goes on, and my temper flares right up again. "John should've shot him in the mouth, that would've shut him up."

I give up. "Sister--"

"I'm not your sister!" 

Reminding her of who she's talking to, I warn, "Watch your tone. I am not a maiden in need of defending, I am grown!"

Bad choice of words. She absolutely explodes. "Charles Lee, Thomas Conway, these men take your name and they rake it through the mud!"

"My name's been through a lot, I can take it!" I shoot back, standing up.

"Well, I don't have your name! I don't have your titles, I don't have your land! But, if you--" she starts, but I cut her off.

That can't happen. I have a letter on my desk that means it can't, and I made a promise that it won't. "No!"

"If you gave me command of a battalion, I could rise above my station after the war!" So that's all she cares about? Money and standing? She married a Schuyler! What more does she need! If it wasn't for her pride, she could have everything she wants.

"Or you could die, and I need you alive!"

Alexandra looks at me, like Really? That's the best you've got? "I am more than willing to die--"

Now it's my turn to explode. "Your husband needs you alive! Sister, I need you alive--"

"CALL ME SISTER ONE MORE TIME!"

I look at her as she stands in front of my desk, chest heaving, breath coming uneven. She looks terrible. Suddenly all my anger dissipates, and I am left feeling drained. "Go home, Alexandra. That's an order from your commander."

Her voice is small. "Sir--"

"Go home."

She turns and walks out, looking all the world like a little lost kitten. I know she's the best second in command I could hope for, but I don't call her back. I made a promise, and I'm not breaking it.

Not even if if means we lose the war.