JOHN'S POV

Alexander is truly beautiful. His flowing hair and dark, breathtaking eyes.

I'm sat on the couch with the kids when I hear loud growling and then a bark. Fuck.

I creep off of the couch and around the corner to see Alexander has shifted again. Again? Really?

He's viciously growling at nothing in particular, creeping forward ever so slightly.

"Alexander, stop, it's okay." I say from behind and he whips his head to face me.

"You don't have to do this. You're not on the streets anymore, stop fighting us." I continue sternly, and he looks slightly taken aback.

"Alexander, shift back and we can talk about this. Me and you." I tell him, not leaving any room for negotiation.

When you look closer at him you can really see the fear in his eyes, yet it's masked by a layer of ferocity.

"Come on, we'll go into the bedroom and I'll make sure you're not hurt. Let's go." I command once more and he plods along next to me solemnly.

We walk into one of the spare rooms and I shut the door.

"Alexander, shift please." I command gently and he whimpers.

"It's okay, I'll turn around. I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk." I say whilst turning to face the wall. He shifts and after I hear him stop shuffling I turn around.

"Good. Come on, sit on the bed." I tell him, finding that if I tell him to do something he complies easier then if I ask him. He hesitantly sits and I move closer.

"I'm going to pull the back of your shirt up Alexander, don't move." I say whilst walking behind him. I slowly pull his t shirt up and see a range of different sized scars. I also see lots of bruises and a few new cuts decorating the skin. I gently ghost my hand over the new cuts and he yelps.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Stay still." I apologise quickly.

He stays still and tries his best not to flinch as I feel for injuries. When I gently moved his knee he yelped loudly and scrambled backwards towards the headboard.

"I'm sorry, good boy. Stay there. I'm gonna get Eliza to take a look at your knee. Keep it still." I leave the room and call Eliza over quickly. She stands and moves towards me.

"He yelped really loud when I moved his knee, can you take a quick look?" I inform and she nods with a kind smile.

"Alexander, stay still bud- she's going to take a look at your knee." His face displays one of discomfort and worry. Poor kid.

Eliza approaches and gently takes his leg in her hands. She moves his knee slowly and he cries out in pain, trying to scramble away.

"I couldn't get a feel of it very well but from what I can tell it's badly sprained." She turns to me with a slightly grim look.

"Okay, that's ok. You just need to rest and put ice on it Alexander. You can come home with me if you'd like- I can help you with it." I offer and he seems as though he's debating his options. After a moment of silence he nods gloomily.

"Good. Can I pick you up, Alexander?" I ask this time seeing as I don't want to risk dropping him; he shrugs so I gently carry him bridle style- avoiding his knee with my hand. It's crazy, he's been running everywhere and hasn't mentioned or showed that he was in pain- guess he learnt not to show signs of weakness.

I move us onto the couch and he shuffles closer to the other hybrids.
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(TiMe SkIp brought to you by Luanne Leaving.)

It's about 8:00 pm and all of the hybrids have been situated. Hercules is caring for Laf, Eliza is taking Maria home, Van is gonna look after Usnavi and I'm going to care for Alexander. After speaking to some of the other hybrids I've discovered that he has trust issues and is very harsh to those he doesn't know- to prevent him from growing dependent. He also has PTSD and anxiety- they said he could have more but they're the only ones they know about. Poor kid. The cubs have gone to a multitude of places; Theo and Angie have taken Little Thea, Connor and Evan have gone to some of the Washington's friends and so have the other kids. It took 4 hours and a lot of persuasion for Alex to stand down when they came to pick the kids up, and he almost bit Mr Murphy.

We're currently in my car on the way to my aparentment, and Alex still hasn't said a word.

(I don't remember if I said that the Washington's and Laurens live in the same building, but if I did I'm afraid they don't anymore. Kinda wanted to involve Mount Vernon so we're going with that. Sorry if it's confusing!)

He's curled up in the passenger seat, knees drawn to his chest and his face resting between. I speed up slightly, hoping to get home quickly and get him settled in.

I pull into my driveway, walking around to the other side of the car to open to door for him.

"Hey, Alexander, can I pick you up buddy?" I ask softly, now that we're alone rather than commanding. He doesn't move, and instead curls into a tighter ball, muttering incoherent sentences to himself.

"Come on, Buddy. I need to get you inside." When I love to pick him up he recoils and whimpers louder. Great.

"Would you rather stay with the Washington's? We can do that." I offer and he slowly nods his head. Guess we're going back then.

I get back in the car and press the dial button on the steering wheel.

"Please say the name of the person you want to call." My car commands robotically and Alexander's head whips up in fright.

"It's okay, it's just the car." I say before clearly speaking "George Washington." The car agrees and the call tone rings out. After three rings, someone picks up.

"Hello?" A voice calls and I immediately place it as Martha's.

"Hey, Mrs Washington, is George there?" I ask casually.

"Oh, Yeah, let me go get him." She replies kindly and you can hear her smile through the call.

"George! Johns on the phone!" She calls faintly, as though she has put her hand over the speaker. I hear a faint pattern of sock clad feet and soon Washington's voice rings strongly through the speaker.

"John? Is there an issue?" He asks, straight to the point.

"Alexander would feel more comfortable staying with you. Do you possibly have a bedroom you could spare?"

"Of course, it's been a while since we've had a youngster at Mount Vernon. Bring him round, Martha and I will get the room ready." He says as though it had been an obvious answer.

"Thank you, sir. I'm on my way over now. I'll be there in about 10 minutes." I say with relief present in my tone.

"Okay, we should have the room ready by then. I'll leave the front door open, just come straight in. Should Alexander need clothes?"

"Yes. Do you have any you could spare? I can pick some up for him in the morning."

"He can wear some of my older clothes, though they'll fit him like a dress."

"Thank you, again, sir. See you soon." I smile and once he has bid us goodbye I press the end call button.