Becoming a Founding "Father"- Historical Hamilton

Chapter Forty-One: Guns and Ships

*Rochambeau (portrait above) may not be historically accurate, but can you blame me for wanting a character who's classy and simultaneously doesn't give a damn? Not spell-checked 

With the Continental Army positioned in New York, Washington and Rochambeau planned an attack] on Clinton [... But] when they found the French fleet was instead sailing to the Chesapeake Bay, Washington concocted a new plan.- Leading up to battle, Siege of Yorktown

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The first thing that occurred when I was officially announced substitute Chief of Staff was that someone threatened to end my life- and out of all people, it was Tallmadge.

He caught me by the wrist right before my first conference with Washington and Rochambeau. To say that I was nervous already was a bit of an understatement, so when I was suddenly grabbed I jumped and dropped all of what I was carrying.

"Ah, shit," I find myself saying, laughing nervously, and Tallmadge lets me go, letting me collect all of my dropped parchment. His gaze burns my back, and I scrabble to pick up everything as quick as possible. I really wanted to come in ten minutes early to get my nerves in check, so I've got time, but-

"No documentation." His stiff voice, completely different to his usual casual tone, almost makes me drop all of my things again. When I look up at him, his gaze is freezes me whole with his clear frustration.

"Pardon me?"

"No documentation. Literally nothing." I stand up, and he steps closer to me. All the softness in his face is gone, leaving his features with a statue-like nothingness. "It is not often I meet an educated man of British descent, and find no records of said education."

I frown. "If you speak of me, then I shall inform you that I am not of British descent, sir."

Tea and biscuits

"Oh, really? My apologies, then," he said, his voice clearly offering no apology. In fact, I felt a mildly patronizing undertone that mildly unsettled me. "It is just that Layden is quite famously an Northern English surname."

I hum, thinking of a family member I haven't used yet. "Ah, wait, my great-grandfather lived in England, so."

"-Oh, apologies, my mistake, Layden is a Gaelic surname." Gaelic, meaning Irish and Scottish. Are you fucking kidding me? Why is it that every time Tallmadge talks with me, he's playing mind games? His eyes slit dangerously again. "Rarely is a man not aware of his own heritage."

"Sir, what are you trying to achieve?" I ask bluntly, clutching my papers to my chest. "I have a meeting I have to get to."

"A warning." He's trying to find something in my eyes, but I remain unbothered. "You are not who you claim to be. You were simultaneously born in the Caribbean, Russia, France and in a country that does not exist; you had no formal education and yet you're the leading aide; you have several counts of insubordination upon you, and yet no court-martials have been instigated. Christ, according to your paperwork- or the jarring lack thereof- you do not exist! Were you any other officer, you would have long been drummed out- 'Tis as if some otherworldly force protects you from demise!" 

He pauses, frown etching itself deeper onto his face. "Or rather, Washington does. I have not a clue what possessed him to trust you, a man who he can't bear to even look at-" oh, so someone else noticed, too. Good- I'm not going crazy, "- but I know a man with secrets when I see one."

Alright, he knows his shit, I guess. "All men have secrets." Mine are simply more complicated.

"Aye, sir. Though not every man has no paperwork to confirm their existence, nationality or loyalties, nor do they hold themselves like a spy."