Oh, and they were enemies

They had just returned from the Battle of Monmouth - Lee had retreated, left them for dead, well technically in the end they'd left Lee for dead, but that was his own fault in John's option. He wouldn't have been left behind if he hadn't been so damn scared, tried to leave his own men for dead. Everyone had been scared, Lee had only two jobs: stay alive, and keep his men alive, and he could barely handle keeping himself alive. No, he shouldn't think about that, it would just make him madder, and this was war, he couldn't really afford to get mad at his ally, even if his ally was a dick.

All that was thrown to the window when John heard all Lee was saying about General Washington. He practically marched to where Charles Lee was gossiping - lying, spreading false rumors about a general had so generously saw something in Lee, given him a chance, a place, and Lee was the reason he was where he is now. John saw Alexander standing somewhat close by, clearly annoyed at what Lee was saying, but not stepping in just yet.

John wasn't that patient. The minute he heard Lee say the best thing the General could do was go back to planting tobacco in Mount Vernon, he was storming over to Lee, pushing him against a wall; more than ready to beat the ever loving shit out of this pathetic piece of shit. It was a blur, and before he could do real damage Alexander was pulling him away from Lee who was clutching at his throat, gasping for breath; when had he grabbed his throat? Had he really been squeezing that hard? Did he really nearly accidently kill Lee? Looked that way - why did that make him feel weird?

"Calm down, John, there are better ways to kill a man than that. You don't want to be known for this, not like this." John heard Alex say to him under his voice as he practically dragged John somewhere - anywhere - else. Alexander was right, even if he wanted to kill Lee, he didn't want to do it by attacking when Lee literally couldn't defend himself. That wasn't right, even if Lee deserved it - if John was going to kill him, he was going to do it right, so he let Alexander drag him off back to his place where they could both cool down before either did anything, more, stupid.

Even that night, as he lied with Alexander in bed - honestly, this man was getting tiring, had to be dragged to bed, away from his work. Don't get John wrong, he loved the guy, but this was getting a little ridiculous - he was still thinking about Charles Lee of all people. How best to get back at him, how to make him pay for what he did. Duel? Perhaps, but that was a little cliché, maybe as a last case scenario. Alexander's advice was to not disobey direct orders - that Alex wanted Lee to pay too, but they didn't want to be kicked out of the army because they had to get the last laugh on Lee. So Alex was absolutely no help, even if he was right - smartass bastard, just always has to be right.

Regardless, John still wrapped himself around his best friend as he tried to get some sleep - tomorrow there would be more time to think of something, plus there'd be plenty to take his mind off Lee and it was called war.

Okay, instead of sleeping, because apparently the last thing his mind wanted to do was sleep, John found himself prying himself out of Alex's grip and getting dressed. He had an idea and by damn his mind would not let him rest until that idea was fulfilled. John had come up with very few ideas that night on how to get back at Lee - so apparently the cliché was the answer: challenge him to a duel. Even if Alexander's voice still rang in his ears, "Don't throw away your shot. You don't want to be known for this." He still found himself at Charles Lee's place of residence.

Could this have waited until tomorrow? Probably, but time is valuable in times like these and besides, why sleep when you can break in- bother your enemy.

John debated knocking, but in the end decided to - who knows what was on the other side of the door? He'd just knocked and only then started to second guess his 'brilliant' idea. This really could have waited until morning instead of middle of night. Lee was probably asleep by now anyways, he should just go-