This is now just an angst war. L puts my characters through pain, Imma put hers and mine and Lin's in pain. There's no turning back anymore. Wish me luck. Also, in case you don't read the main story, Jenna is Theodosia. Oh, and this will be really sad and there's gun violence. And death. Be careful reading. -C

If Aaron had known, he would have enjoyed the moment a lot more. Instead, all of them are goofing around and acting like complete idiots. They continue goofing around, nudging each other and pecking on each other's cheek. Aaron, however, is leaning over his work and desperately trying to finish his homework. He's worried about it, to be completely honest. If he doesn't finish the essay after all, he might just kicked out of school. Okay, Aaron is exaggerating slightly.

But, he still is worried about it.

"Come on, Aaron. We could go dance..." Jenna makes a motion that suggests exactly that.

Peggy makes a whining noise. "Puh-lease?"

"I have to finish this," he murmurs under his breath. After a few minutes of just arguing back and forth, Jenna agrees to just leave. She starts dancing with Angelica, light and blithe.

When he finishes it, he takes a video of all of them dancing. He gets Hercules and Laf, dancing in a way that's almost inappropriate. He has the elegant swing of Maria and Eliza. He has the bounces of Peggy, solo dancing, and the moves that are close to spasms from John and Alex. Thomas and James waltz, like always, making everyone seem bad. His camera keeps wandering back to Jenna though.

He snaps it close after awhile.

Alex and him are working on a paper together. "Alexander, you can't just keep adding more and more words to this and hoping that I don't notice."

"Why not?" Alex whines, letting his lower lip tremble slightly. "Everyone knows that you don't say enough. I can barely even tell who you're trying to convict as guilty! It's so...Ugh! Become a better writer, Burr!"

"Oh yeah?" Aaron baits, smiling ever so slightly.

He bobbles his head up and down, trying his very hardest to make the younger man understand. "If you don't express an opinion, you're gonna...There's going to be serious consequences in the end!"

"I don't want to be condescending, but I'm not entirely sure if the words coming from your mouth are accurate." He smugly smiles at Alex.

Alex looks like he's about to leap across the table or at least rip the paper in half. True to his own form, he clambers upon the table and starts ranting about all of the reasons that Aaron is wrong. The younger man tunes out for a few seconds, not sure how his lack of opinions lead to his relationship with Jenna to not being able to dance. Then again, this just seems to be a list of all of the things they have ever argued about, thrown back in his face. Aaron doesn't care to rehash all of those old memories.

   A few moments pass, and Alexander doesn't seem to be stopping. He just keeps ranting. Aaron hangs his head. "Sweet Jesus."

   "Excuse me?" scoffs Alex, crossing his arms slightly.

   In response, Aaron smirks. "You are excused, good sir!"

   "Why, you little-"

   Alexander's phone starts going off. You can tell because only Alex would like loud rap songs with cuss words in a public space. It's John's number. John, Alex's boyfriend who's off in South Carolina for the weekend. Both Alex and Aaron jump. Then, they make eye contact.

   The two of them dive for the phone, and Aaron barely wins. Answering quickly and breathlessly, he waits. "Hello?"

   "Is this Alexander Hamilton?" a ragged voice breathes, sounding upset.

   Aaron wrinkles his nose. Maybe it's one of John's siblings? "Yes, it is Alexander Hamilton."

   "We have some bad news about John Laurens. Last night, he passed away-"

   Aaron stiffens.

   "It was a drive-by. We don't know who did it but...But we'll find out. His funeral is in a week."

   They hang up before Aaron can protest, argue that he isn't Alexander. He regrets it immediately as he relies the news.

   Alex's face twists violently. "You're lying!"

   "I'm not. I wish I were, but-"

   Aaron had never heard such a heart wrenching scream. However, Alex pulled it off. He crumpled to the ground, shaking and sobbing. Aaron has to carefully wrap his arms around the fragile man.

   Things will be different. There's no way it won't be.

   Alex is killing the romance of sharing a dorm with Jenna, but he can't bear to be alone. Three months have past since John's body breathed its last, getting shot and getting mangled.

   Aaron would be lying that he doesn't have nightmares about seeing John's body. He was the one who read the news article to make sure it was true. And Aaron was the one who saw the photo.

   Alex and Jenna have a fearsome debate going on as he walks in. It ends with Alex slamming the door on his way out. But there's a tender moment where he places his hand on his shoulder. "Be brave, Aaron."

   "Uh, you too, Little Lion," Aaron stammers out in surprise.

   That night, though, Aaron doesn't know why he has to be brave. The moment is perfect. They watch a romantic movie, snuggled beneath a blanket. Together, Jenna and Aaron toast and sip wine. It seems oddly formal, but their romance hasn't been so strong for a long time.

   In the very end, Aaron grabs Jenna's hand. "Let's go sit beneath the stars, sweetheart!"

   "Of course, dear," Jenna murmurs back.

   They truly do as well. Jenna impresses him with knowledges of the locations, and Aaron tells the stories. He calls her his star, and she calls him hers.

   "You're the brightest star, and you're on Earth," Aaron chuckles.

   She looks uncomfortable.

   The two of them fall asleep under the stars together. In the morning, he rolls over and sees her peacefully sleeping face. Her face is crinkled as if deep in thought, and Jenna's hand is still in his. She feels a little cold, though.

   It's time to go in.

   "Wake up, Jenna," Aaron softly whispers. "It's a new day."

   She doesn't budge.

   "Jenna?" Aaron sits up abruptly, and he shakes her slightly. Her head lolls, but her eyes don't open. She doesn't even react.

   He frantically searches for a pulse and finds none.

   Hercules is the one who wakes up to the sirens. He thinks it's Alex and hurries to Aaron's apartment. He didn't expect to find Aaron sobbing silently over Jenna's dead body as the ambulance takes her away.

   "I was wrong," Aaron wails into Hercules, all of his despair rushing out and taking over him frantically. "I was so wrong!"

   "Wrong about what?" Hercules asks, stroking the younger man's back soothingly.

   "The brightest star can't be on Earth."

   Nobody quite knows what happens for the next one. He's not in the dorm, the shared one between Alex and him now. Aaron can't stand it. It's too quiet, too silent. Without her, her dynamics, he knows it's merely a husk. No matter what he does, there is no filling the void. 

   Instead, he's hanging out with Thomas and James. They're a weird, bizarre mix of gentle and blunt. They don't sugarcoat anything, and they don't act like he's fragile.

   The only thing he despises about them is how they refuse to get together. Thomas and James would be perfect. He notices the sly glances. He notices everything. James tells him to stop hinting at it.

   Surprisingly, Thomas seems to relish it.

   They walk through the campus like kings. Thomas just has that aura about him. Nobody dares messes with him. He's too bold, too smart, too above the rest. James and Aaron are like his lackeys. James, the quiet and sick one. Aaron, the depressed and suffering one. All single. All accepting that.

   It's only been around a year. Aaron can't just get over that. Get over the fact he was the one with Jenna when she died. Then, just like that, it was all over.

   "Get out of your own thoughts," James warns, nudging him slightly. "I'm starting to think it's a dangerous place for you to go."

   "James, it'll be fine." There's no point in lying and saying it's fine now. All of them know that's not true. Neither of the two Southerners say anything though.

   Angelica rushes up to Thomas, eyes wet. Thomas springs into action, voice dripping with sympathy and something suggesting he's about to flirt. "Darlin', you okay? Need me to soften a blow for y'all?"

   "You can't soften this one." The Schuyler's eyes are hard.

   Aaron and James peek out at her, but Angelica doesn't even notice. She's too preoccupied with Thomas. "Sweet, I'm sure I could. Point me in the right direction."

   "The ground," Angelica grinds out.

   There's a silence as all three men try to work it out.

   James gets it first. "Oh God. Who's dead?"

   That's why Angelica's jaw tightens as she realizes she has to tell them of what happens. Her eyes warily flickers from one to the other, unsure of what to say.

   "Just say it," Aaron slowly says. He can't draw this out any longer. Truly, his heart would snap in half. "Who's dead, Ang?"

   "Professor Washington."

   His blood freezes to ice and cuts at his skin as Aaron hears that. James stumbles backwards, looking like he doesn't believe it. Thomas, however, doesn't even react.

   He forces a grin upon his face. "Oh, really? Ha...How?"

   Aaron feels as if he's standing next to a ticking time bomb. Both Angelica and James exchange worried looks.

   "Just...He just..." Angelica stumbles over the words.

   Thomas pauses, taking a shaky breath. "It doesn't matter."

   "Thomas-" James goes to reach for his arm, but Thomas jerks away. Tears shine in his eyes, but the Southerner rapidly blinks him away.

   He's so close, Aaron can see his confidence pop and shatter.

   In that one moment, he wishes Jenna was there to help soften the blow. Even now, he thinks, I can't stop thinking about you.

   Thomas takes off, and James swears and races after him.

   This was the legacy Washington left behind. Heartbroken children. Not his own...But grieving nonetheless.

   Aaron and Alex find themselves huddled into the dorm. It's their third year of college. Surprisingly, somehow, they have been succeeding rather well. They haven't flunked out. Without their significant others, they feel like they have lost the most important part of them is gone.

   Together, the two of them continue to stare at their phones. Both of them know what's going on beyond their apartment. They can't even deny it. That's why they have their phones open to Angelica and Eliza.

   "Not Peggy," murmurs Aaron, hugging himself desperately. Fat tears are rolling down his cheeks as he thinks of his friend. The two of them had been close for the longest time. When everyone was able to go vote, they stayed in and watched movies. When Jenna died, she practically nursed him back to health. Her and Alex. She was the only woman he had allowed himself to get close too since Jenna died.

   Alex nods in agreement, shaking and shivering despite the warmth in the room. "Not anyone else. Nobody else is allowed to die. It's just not...It's not okay."

   "She's so sick." The tears cling to Aaron's eyelashes. Even when he blinks them desperately, they practically refuse to shake free.

   The last time he saw Peggy is seared into his brain. She was curled up under a blanket, shivering and trembling. Her eyes were glossed over. When Eliza started talking, Peggy winced but turned to her sister nonetheless. To make a joke, she started singing Éponine's death song. Absolutely nobody laughed at that.

   The doctors said that they couldn't save her. Right now, Peggy is hanging onto a miracle with claws. One of these days though, and everyone knows it, her grip will slip. Peggy will fall. And God, Aaron just hopes that John and Jenna will protect her. George too.

   The little girl, who always longed to be free from her sisters, will be gone for good. This time, she will be the first to leave. Her sisters will be forced to follow. However, Peggy had never had to deal with a world without her sisters...Just as the other Schuylers never had to deal with it just being the two of them.

   Alex's teeth start chattering. "My mom died of being sick...And Peggy is going the same way..."

   "So did my parents," Aaron responds. The two of them huddle up together. Before Aaron can even object, Alex latches onto him like a lifeline. His arms are so strong, not willing to ever give up.

   They almost miss the text going through. But, both of them receive it. Both of them can't ignore it forever. Slowly, Aaron examines the text sent from Angelica, and Alex examines the text from Eliza. They're identical in content.

   Margarita Schuyler has found a new place in the world. The sky is truly the limit for her now. God, help her.

   Aaron collapses into a heap, sobbing, while Alex starts wailing and screaming at the world or anything. Anything that took Peggy away from them.

   This is unfair. He doesn't want to be the one who has to tell them. He doesn't want to be the one who breaks the girls' hearts.

Alex's call haunts him though. Every time he tries to avoid it, Aaron starts hearing it again. 'I may not live to see our glory...But that's okay. All I want to see is John.'

What does that even mean?

Then, when he had walked into the dorm, he had quickly understood what it meant. Aaron tried not to scream. He calmly called the hospital, and they were coming to pick up the dead body...It couldn't be Alexander. Because Alexander wouldn't have killed himself at age twenty-one. Right after he had written a book about himself and his friends and everyone, ensuring his legacy. Right after he had finally seemed like he was going to be able to function on his own, ready to graduate college soon. That couldn't have been Alexander, just lying there without a pulse.

His best friend and girlfriend, bride-to-be actually since he had gifted her a ring a day before she died, couldn't have died in the same dorm.

But, when he thinks about it, it almost makes sense. If he manages to subtract himself from the truth. Alex achieved a way to be remembered, a way to have John remembered. And then, he left the world. And Jenna...Jenna didn't want him to hurt. That's why they had such a perfect last night.

He forces those thoughts out, and he made himself numb. Aaron feeds himself lies. It's not Jenna. It's not Alex. Maybe it's a dream. This isn't real life.

Still, Aaron finds himself standing in the bitter rain, knocking on a door. Sobs wrack his body, and he prepares his speech once more. This time, he's not going to be unprepared. This time, he's actually going to say the words in a gentle way. These are the people who truly absolutely loved Alexander. Not that Aaron didn't love his best friend, but this was a completely different way than they could have.

Angelica and Eliza answer as one. Angelica's hair has been twisted into rollers, making sure it will have ultimate curls. He can even see Maria hanging off a bed nearby, painting her nails. They can't recover from Peggy's death, always being together as sisters and then Maria, but that's not the worst thing to be. Right now, it just seems mundane that they're having a beauty day.

Aaron supposes he didn't put himself together as well as he assumed. Immediately, the three women catch on. "What's wrong?"

He wants to ignore the question. Saying it out loud...That will cement it. All of that churning feeling. All of that fear and worry. That no, he can't delude himself forever. Aaron knows it was Alex who had offed himself. It wasn't anyone random. And disassociation would only last for so long.

"Aaron?"

His knees buckle right then, and Eliza barely catches him. This time, the words are ripped out of his throat. It's brutal, and it's choked out between the sobs. "Alexander..."

"What happened?" Maria flees to the door, pushing her girlfriend out of the way. The girl gently rubs at his cheek, forcing him to acknowledge her presence. He blinks slowly, wondering if she knows. She knows how much the world is falling apart though. Maria Reynolds has faced almost all of it.

"He killed himself."

There's no screaming this time. This time, there's silence. Because without Alexander, how could anything be truly loud?

"We can't find her, oh my God, we can't find her, what if something horrible happened, oh God, we're being so selfish, I knew we couldn't have this, I knew this was wrong," Lafayette babbles the moment Aaron steps into the room.

The whole room is prepared. White tuxes and red ties. Blue dresses. Lafayette is pacing back and forth like a blushing bride, except for being groom number two. His fingers twist around the engagement ring. Today was supposed to be their day, Aaron laments to himself. Then again, absolutely nothing is going to plan anymore. The one person who could possibly calm Lafayette down, Hercules, is off in some other room.

Grooms aren't meant to see each other after all.

Maria is trying to latch onto the Frenchman. "Hey, hey, calm down. I'm sure that she's just late."

"And not answering her phone?" Lafayette snaps back. He goes to run a hand through his hair, but Thomas catches it.

Aaron clears his throat. "Uh, what's going on?"

"Angelica isn't here. And she's not answering her phone. And Laf is probably freaking out over nothing. But, I can tell that he really wants to see where she is," Thomas slowly explains, trying to act as if he could care less. The two of them lock eyes, and he can practically see the longing springing out at me.

Everyone needs to know where Angelica is. There's a reason it's a rule to text the others if you can't answer your phone. Perhaps they're all too clingy. Too paranoid. However, nobody wants to risk what happened to Alex. There shouldn't be any more death.

The pit in his stomach, the numbness that almost seems like an infection, keeps growing with every death. It's almost telling him that Angelica is dead. But, at the very least, they deserve tonight. Lafayette and Hercules have managed to pick up the pieces for almost everyone else. Can't the universe give them tonight to just party and dance around?

Maria leans in, whispering into Aaron's ear. "Can you please just tell him that you think you saw her?"

The young man obliges, lying if only to calm Lafayette down. It does its job. Despite the fact all of them are getting more and more concerned that it's a lie, Lafayette takes it as a truth. Aaron fervently wishes that he could do that.

After the wedding begins though, it's easy to forget of that possible dilemma. They can't just keep worrying that someone is dead every time they can't contact them. Aaron knows that they're being too...Clingy. They are being too desperate. After all, everyone just supposed to be college students. Whatever the reason is for disease and violence tearing them apart...Well, for today, it can leave its ugly head out of this.

Hercules cements their bond, their love, with a long kiss. Everyone claps and whoops.

"Let's get some cake!" Hercules whoops.

Lafayette giggles like a schoolgirl, clinging to his arm. "Oui!"

As they all head to the cake, the door almost breaks in with a sudden sea of people. He can hear the confusion and the chaos erupting into the atmosphere. It just makes it unpleasant for Aaron. He tries to escape to a silent corner.

A news reporter stops him, grabbing his arm. "Aaron Burr, I presume?"

Thank God he didn't say Aaron Burr, sir. Aaron isn't sure if he could have taken that.

"Who's asking?" he replies slowly.

Immediately, the man launches into a barrage of questions, not even caring if he's hurting the college student in any way, shape, or form. "I was told you were a close friend of Angelica Schuyler? Did you know of her peace protest gone wrong? Did you-"

"Peace protest gone wrong?" Aaron repeats dumbly, knowing what's going to go wrong.

He nods frantically, acting as if this is something...Something akin to just a story. Not that it's a real person. "The cops had to shoot a few...And Angelica Schuyler was one of them."

Why? Why would she schedule a peace protest before their wedding? However, Aaron knows that's the way Angelica would have wanted to go if she couldn't go with family by her side.

"Is she dead?"

"Yes."

The world floods then, and all of his senses wink out.

This time, they had warning.

Aaron has always prided himself on waiting. He plays the waiting game to win. That is the one thing he has been able to excel at. This time, however, the waiting game is stretching out longer than any of them expected.

Any of 'them' is almost a bluff now. With college winding down for a few, they have all moved into a single apartment. This way, everyone is so close. Aaron hates how he can count them all on one hand. Lafayette, Thomas, James, Maria, Eliza. Everyone else is either dead...Or the other unlucky participant of the waiting game.

Hercules' lungs apparently folded in on themselves or something. Aaron isn't actually sure of the medical terminology. He can't breathe without a tube down his throat. The strong man, the man who always seemed larger than life, is confined to a hospital bed, unmoving.

The second death is looming in that year. Life is determined to get all of them. Nobody is able to escape that destiny, that fate. It's almost as if fate has decided that they are the worst people in the world, picking them off, preying on their weaknesses.

Because that's how it seems to work. If one dies, another follows. Nobody can just...Wait.

Lafayette clings to Aaron's and Thomas's arms, practically suspended above the ground by how much he's clinging to them . Because today is the day. Today is the day they have to pull the plug. Hercules has no brain movement. And he hasn't for the longest of times. All of them are going to be there, though. Nobody will allow Lafayette to watch his husband officially die alone. That would be the cruelest fate that one could ever imagine.

Maria and Eliza are huddled around the bed around while the doctor preps. The remaining Schuyler sister and Reynolds cling to one of his hands. Lafayette runs and practically collapses on top of Hercules. Thomas and James are a little more subdued about taking the big guy's hand.

"This is the greatest of men," Laf begins, sniffling and crying and wailing. "He didn't deserve to die."

"You don't have to do this..."

"I love him with my entire heart. And I'll...I'll continue to wait for him. Until death do us part is a little too true right now. We haven't even been married for an entire year. This isn't...This isn't fair!" Eliza practically has to drag him off Hercules. All of them practically collapse and hug him tightly.

Seconds turn into minutes, minutes turn into...

The heart monitor gives off. Somebody calls it. Lafayette collapses to the ground.

Aaron just stares at Hercules...Or at least, what used to be Hercules. It can't be Hercules without having any sexual jokes or cuddles or flirts directed towards his husband. Then, another thought just occurs to him. Because...Because if Hercules could go down, the one who has always been so protective and living so hard and fast, what does that mean for the rest of them? He daresay that Hercules had the most to live for too.

James, Eliza, and him sit in a fast food restaurant, waiting for Thomas to arrive or at least to call. This is where they're supposed to be meeting. Aaron is trying his very best to pep talk him. "Come on, James...You gotta live fast and furious. One moment, they're here...And the next, they're gone...You have to make your move. You have to tell Thomas how you truly feel."

"You have given me this lecture so many times. I honestly get it, okay? You miss Jenna. And I'm sure that Thomas and I can have something close to that. But I don't even think that Thomas is into guys." James takes a deep breath, sighing. His shoulders slump.

Eliza leans across the table, placing her hand on James'. "This is Thomas. I think he's into everyone."

James breaks out laughing.

The three of them continue that argument for thirty minutes until James' phone finally goes off with a lick of violin. Both of them know that Thomas is the one playing that ringtone. However, Thomas hasn't dared to touch that instrument for the longest time. Somehow, it just reminds him of everyone gone.

Giggling, Eliza gives him a suggestive look. Aaron snorts. "You've spent too much time with Maria."

"I'm going to marry that girl," the woman sighs, smiling. Like that, it's almost easy to forget that this is still the year that Angelica and Hercules died. However, just spending any time with them reminds Aaron of those gone. Every smile hints at Alexander or John. Every finger gun is Hercules or Peggy.

James picks up. "Thomas-"

"Shush!" Thomas whispers into the phone, his voice cracking slightly. Terror is obvious in his tone.

All three of them go completely silent.

Shakily, Thomas starts explaining. His words are so soft, almost inaudible. "John Adams brought a gun to work."

Aaron's breath gets caught inside of his chest. Eliza's small body starts trembling, tenser than a fiddle's string. The one who looks most devastated is definitely James though. He understands what might just happen. At least, though, if anything happens, James gets to say goodbye.

That thought depresses Aaron. How come that the bright side of the situation has become that now?

"Are you safe?"

"Please call the cops," whimpers the man over the phone.

Eliza rushes off to call the cops, unable to bear hearing Thomas' voice without getting a lifetime guarantee of seeing her friend.

James slips into something that Aaron can only call a mothering tone. "You'll be okay, shh, it's going to be fine. Just breathe, Thomas. Where are you? Where is he? Do you know what's going on?"

"I don't," his voice cracks again. Thomas takes a shaky breath. "I hear the gun though...What if he comes for me? We were friends. But I thought Abigail was his friend too...And look where that landed her. Oh, Jemmy..."

"The cops will be there. They can save you. They can stop John. There isn't a single way that they are going to let anything happen to you." There's an unsaid element of that. If something does happen to Thomas, James is going to fall apart. Aaron doesn't blame him. In fact, Aaron finds himself absolutely terrified for one of his closest friends.

Thomas has always had quite a large ego, but it's in the quieter moments that you can see his old personality resurface. The shy boy who just had a big heart that got shattered. Right now, Thomas might as well be a child. Because that's what it sounds like, and Aaron is sure that Thomas looks the part as well.

There's a gunshot, this one loud that the two men can hear. Aaron inhales sharply. "Thomas."

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" This time, there's no denying the fear. However, there's a certain level of admitting it. A certain level of just having to accept that death is around the corner, stalking your every move.

Aaron hides his face to hide the pain.

James continues rambling to his childhood friend, the one he has known longer than anyone else. The one he has been together with for so long. "You aren't dying."

"Jemmy, I'm dying..." admits Thomas. "I was never meant to survive this day, huh."

"Thomas, don't speak like that!"

"I can hear his footsteps. I can hear his voice." Thomas's voice sounds...Distant now.

Leaning in desperately, James is practically yelling at Thomas. "Don't say that! Just be quiet! Stop talking! You're going to get caught!"

"Jemmy, shush. It's too late. I'm the only one left in the building...And of course he's going to check in here. I don't know what else I can do...Um...Jemmy, I have to tell you something," he breathes out quickly.

Tears start landing on the table. Tears start landing in his lap. Aaron desperately scrub at his eyes, hoping to cleanse them from the salty tears.

"What?"

"I love you. I love you so much. I have always loved you. I'm so sorry for not saying that sooner. I'm-" There's a loud gunshot, and Thomas lets out a giant scream. "Please, Jemmy, I love you so much...John, put down the gun...No...Please..."

Bang.

Aaron wakes up to the sharp scent of fire. The smoke invades his room quickly. Immediately, the other man in the room starts coughing. James has always gotten sick so easily. He's not shocked that the smoke is truly hurting him. Lafayette just rolls over in his sleep, not quite willing to wake up yet.

"Guys! Guys!" Someone starts pounding on the locked door. It sounds awfully like Maria. Her voice is raspy and sore, strained even. "Wake up! Get out!"

"What's going on?" Aaron murmurs, springing to his feet and starting to drag Lafayette and James upwards.

For a brief moment, the younger man starts to worry. They spin webs of concerns and lies in his head. What if their will to live is gone? Hercules and Thomas died this year. They might just be ready to let themselves burn to death in the fire. Maybe it's not suicide. Maybe it's not the same as what Alex decided to do. However, it's still another way to be desperate enough to end it all.

Then, Lafayette gets up. In French, the man confusedly asks what's going on. Aaron goes to respond, but the coughs shake him deeply. He tries to hack out the answer, but Lafayette shakes his hand and mouths fire. Aaron nods.

Lafayette starts to help getting James up while Aaron stumbles over to the door. The fire is already starting to affect him. He would lying if he said that he wasn't exhausted already. The smoke rattles his chest, and his lungs seem to pulse slightly. His head spins ever so slightly. However, the pounding of the door starts getting weaker and weaker.

Aaron finally manages to fling open the door.

Maria's mouth is covered by the bottom of the dress, and her breaths are coming in shallowly and darkly. "Run. Get out of here. I'm getting Eliza. She was in the bathroom, the last time I checked."

"What about you?" James asks as Lafayette and him stumble forward and behind Aaron.

Maria wrinkles her nose. "I'm getting Eliza."

"What if you die?" whispers Aaron, letting the question hang within the air.

She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter. You need to get going."

With that, James and Lafayette nod. Aaron isn't too ready to accept that though. He gets that it's just Maria and Eliza against the world now. The last couple left...In the weirdest way possible.

It appears that Aaron's choice is leaving him though. Lafayette and James start dragging him out of the door. James sighs. "You're the one who need to get out, Aaron. You're the smallest, and you barely have any sleep. Do you understand that? Maria will have to handle herself, playing hero...Heroine."

The three men start racing through the smoldering apartment. Aaron is shocked to find himself slowing down on the steps, suddenly unable to truly to walk down. His feet catch against each other, and his eyes are threatening to roll back in his head.

Lafayette gets James out of the door into the arms of a firefighter or someone. The fire is blurring his vision in a shocking arrange of reds and oranges. "Aaron! Come on! You are not allowed to die!"

"B-but." With that, his vision winks out, and he falls.

When he awakes, he's in a hospital with most of his friends around him... "Where's Maria?" he rasps out from behind the mask.

Eliza, apparently found, sighs. She's covered in burns and tears. "She...Playing hero didn't end well."

Why couldn't it have been him? Him being dead?

Because Maria sure as heck didn't deserve any of this.

The hotel room will never be slept in. The suitcases will never be picked up and rolled away. The phone call of arrival will never be initiated. The airplane will never land peacefully. The Americans seeking shelter or fun or new starts in France will never begin. The souvenirs will never be brought back.

Lafayette had never been too fond of planes and plane rides. However, he wanted to ride in one. He wanted to return home. For whatever reason, he just wouldn't take a boat ride this time. Lafayette was babbling about how he wanted to get to France quickly.

He couldn't have anticipated the plane crashing. After all, the plane had taken that route so many times. It had never crashed before. Was he scared when it started shaking from turbulence? Or did he just accept it? Did Lafayette see Hercules before he died, leaping into his arms? Or was he bound by his fear and uncertainty, refusing to give up his life on Earth quite yet?

Eliza zips up her black dress from turning to Aaron. "Does this look good...For a funeral?"

"As good as it did for the last one," Aaron slowly says, buttoning up his tuxedo. However, he has added a little flair to it.

A slight smile graces the face ravaged by hardship and grief. "Is that Laf's favorite hair tie?"

"And this is Lafayette's favorite tie. A tad bit inappropriate, but..." James slowly steps into the room, sporting a tie with vibrant stars and stripes. Both Aaron and Eliza laugh about that. Lafayette was truly American in the best way. There was nobody more proud of his country than that man.

That's when the woman takes off running, starting to look through the apartment for things of Lafayette. The two men make eye contact before doing the same.

Aaron finds him in the room that everyone just stuffed their old junk in. Falling to his knees, he starts throwing things around. Everything holds such memories inside of it. Everything bears a person within it. None of this could ever be trash.

Eliza and James eventually join him in there.

They miss the funeral to say the least. They're digging through their own memories. They find a picture of the old gang. John is making bunny ears on Alex's head while Alex attempts to climb atop Hercules. Lafayette just stands there, trying to look solemn but laughing too hard to do so. They find an old yearbook of Thomas's, and they flip through until they find a blushing Thomas and a smug James. They find Maria's red dress and Alex's green hoodie.

"This is ugly. Who the heck would ever wear this?" James slingshots an American scrunchie across the room.

Scurrying after it, Eliza holds it up. "Isn't it obvious?"

"It could be French, it could be American."

"Everyone give it up for favorite fighting Frenchman!" singsongs Aaron.

The three of us laugh. After all, it's a rule. When you have nothing left to cry about, when you have cried all of your tears, what do you do besides just...Laugh?

James' breath rattles in his chest. He can't breathe. Any fool could see that he can't breathe anymore. He has been dying in this hospital bed for the longest time, and Aaron and Eliza don't know the last time that they've actually left the hospital. He needs them. James won't want to die alone.

"You could have left," James rasps slowly.

Eliza and Aaron force smiles upon their faces. It's such a needed defense now. Anything else is just...Unacceptable. After all, they can only live for so long. This is going to backfire and fail and go up in flames.

Aaron speaks first. "We wouldn't leave you."

"We're in this together." Eliza squeezes James' hand. "Though, I have to admit. I'm really, really starting to hate hospitals and all they represent. How many of us have died in hospitals?"

"I wish Thomas had died in a hospital." The man's voice twists slightly, thinking of his friend. His friend would have turned to be his lover in the end as well. If it wouldn't have ended like that...Ended that horribly.

A small breath escapes Aaron's lips. "I wish that Jenna had died in a hospital."

"I wish Maria had."

The three of them then just exchange glances, looking at each other and just remembering.

James reaches for Aaron's hand, and Aaron accepts it quickly. He might not be a speaker like Alexander and Thomas. However, when the man speaks, everyone stops to listen and respect him about that. Aaron isn't much of a speaker anymore, his words too meek and lacking any drive. Eliza is the opposite. She has been striving for some much, striving to tell everyone's story.

In fact, all three of them have. Together, they're going to tell someone's story.

Together, they've spoken against gun violence. It protects John and Thomas. They start fundraisers to help every disease that killed a friend. For Peggy and Jenna and James now. Eliza talks about preventing fires, desperately and passionately, for Maria. Suicide for Alexander. Anything. Everything. Sometimes, they just get up on that stage and they just...Talk.

"Bury me near Thomas?" James begs at long last.

Aaron nods. "When you see him in heaven, or wherever that jerk went, you better kiss him hard."

"And tell him he owes me five bucks." Eliza forces the joke out.

James laughs, his face lighting up in joy. Both Eliza and Aaron start feeling the force of James' hand in theirs start going away. But James still laughs, gasping for breath in the very end. His heart monitor goes completely flat, informing them that their friend has finally breathed his last...

But the smile remains on his face still. Aaron gently closes his eyes, and Eliza lets his hands rest in his lap.

Taking a deep breath, the last man leans in. "We'll tell your story."

"We'll tell your story," echoes the last woman.

Then, without even discussing it, their eyes start drifting to the ceiling. Tears drop from their eyes. "Say hello to them for us..."

"It's only a matter of time before we meet again," Eliza forces out, rubbing at her eyes.

The two of them lock hands, and for the longest time, they can't tear their eyes from the sky. Because if they can't look upon their friends anymore, the very least they can do is let them look upon the duo easily.

One moment, Aaron is running for his life. The next moment, he wakes up unable to move or speak. And he's trying. He's trying so hard. Tears run down his face, hot and fast, and he almost attempts to struggle upwards. Then, Aaron remembers the hot binds, the invisible cuffs, that his brain has placed upon himself.

A woman sits in front of him, grasping his limp hands and squeezing them so hard. Her eyes are wide, and she's crying just as much. Her mouth moves, and it takes Aaron a few moments to register the words exploding outwards. "Aaron...No...It wasn't supposed to happen like this!"

What's happening? He screams mentally, but his mind confines him. It's a prison in its own right. Aaron never believed that his brain would bring about his own downfall. He had always believed he'd die like...Alex or Peggy or one of the many. Instead, he is crippled and dying slowly. At least, John and Thomas had the luxury of it being surprisingly fast. That must be why James always spoke of being so jealous. That, and James had to be longing for his old sweetheart back.

"They said...They don't think..." The woman struggles to get the words out.

After a few moments, his brain broadens and allows him to remember it's Eliza. The last Schuyler Sister, the belle of the final ball. One last dance, he thinks bitterly. Like all those years ago, he should have accepted that...That was his last dance. And he didn't even participate in that.

Eliza squeezes harder as if to force the words, the understanding upon Aaron. "Are you in pain?"

I can't answer. I've never felt so...

"I feel so helpless," the girl confesses. She truly looks like a woman who life has beaten down. The two of them were a matching pair of broken pieces in the end. They tried to help many. But he would be outlived by Elizabeth...And that was okay.

Wrinkles mar her beautiful face, and her hair is already turning lighter and whiter at the very tips. She should have been able to grow old without all of this stress. Instead, Aaron is dying when he's barely twenty-eight. His birthday was a few months ago. That much, he knows for sure. She's twenty-nine, though. He knows that for sure. Maybe there's a reason that the two of them finally look so...Old and worn down.

There's a crash in the room, and he tries to force his head to tilt over. It fails though. There's a sudden gasp, and a sudden sob fills the room. His heart races dangerously fast, but he can't believe his eyes.

They're back.

In all of their glory, back when they still were eighteen and seventeen and nineteen. There isn't age or blood or anything. He can see Peggy bounding forward, flinging herself at him. The feeling of hair slapping against his face is back. There's a small snort as Angelica drags her younger sister back with that wry little smile on her face. Aaron smiles at her, and Angelica smiles back.

He feels a little freer, as if some part of him is breaking from his immobile body. His legs feel more...Movable.

Thomas and James go next. Thomas has more swagger than he remembers, waltzing forward. His face is filled with youthful excitement though. For once, finally, his hand is intertwined with James's. He finally got his Jemmy...And James finally managed to get his Thomas back. Though, in a way, Aaron suspects they've had each other for two long years that it's just been Eliza and Aaron. Thomas offers a wave, and James smiles softly.

He can feel his chest again, rising and falling shallowly

After them comes George Washington. It's just a polite smile and nod. The two of them had never been friends or even had that teacher-student response. However, that's the most emotion Aaron has ever gotten.

Aaron didn't even realize that one could feel shoulders. However, Aaron can feel his again. The light, drifty feeling is almost throwing him at his friends, begging him to join them. His hand keeps him anchored to Eliza however.

Alex and John carefully come next. Alex looks smug, but when he goes to talk, John silences him. Aaron huffs a little. It's been a while since he has ever known Alex to shut up. He needed his John. John mouths something that looks like 'Thanks for taking care of him.' Aaron just blinks several times.

While his arms, not his hand, regain feeling and freedom, Aaron wishes he could tell Eliza about everything he can see. She deserves to see. She deserves to know about all that he can see.

Hercules and Lafayette grin. They don't say much. The two of them look so...Content to be together though. They're inseparable. Just for that, Aaron is willing to forgive him for all of the harsh words uttered at him, for him.

He doesn't even feel his neck loosening when he sees her.

Jenna. She wears his engagement ring like a weapon, and she has her hair bound back like he has always loved. Her arms are slightly open, beckoning for him to come. He casts one last forlorn glance at Eliza. She nods, understanding. She will give him more time. Jenna has always understood him. They have never needed to speak.

Three days later, Eliza gives the blessing to leave.

He practically lunges at Jenna, leaving the world of the living and joining everyone except Eliza. He's never leaving again.

Eight years later, he greets Eliza, the one who tells your story, the one who's enough, with the rest of the gang alongside him and Jenna's hand intertwined with his.

And this? This is how the world should have been from the very get-go.