Starstruck II: Saruman's Curse

Stage Fright (Hamilton AU)

AN: There are lyrics from the Broadway musical Hamilton used here, which we do not own. All rights to the owners.

Steven opened his eyes with a start to the sound of cannons booming and men screaming as if it were an alarm he forgot that he set. He quickly realized he had no time to clear the sleep from his eyes. He found himself in the middle of field torn into two sides by men with strange guns. Everywhere around him the world was being dyed red. He watched a man in a white and blue uniform get his boot stuck in the mud, stopping his movement just long enough for a man in a red coat to take aim. With the crack of a musket announcing it, a spot on the man's chest burst with red, staining his white coat red. The red coats were massacring the men in the blue and white.

Suddenly, something clicked in Steven's mind and he realized where he was. Why the Revolutionary war? He got to his feet and ran, trying to stay beneath the notice of the men firing all around him. He ran with no particular direction in mind, but he found himself near the losing side.

One voice dominated the air with a strangely sing-song tone. It said, "He's not the choice I would have gone with. He shits the bed at the Battle of Monmouth."

Suddenly, from the losing side, a new group of men arrived not far away from where Steve was now. At the front was a man on a horse, dressed like a man in command. The men on the field rallied as they saw him. "Everyone attack!" He screamed.

"Retreat!" A new voice broke in, presumably from whoever was commanding the battle before the reinforcements arrived.

"Attack!"

"Retreat!"

"What are you doing Lee, get back on your feet!"

"But there's so many of them!"
"I'm sorry, is this not your speed?!"

"Hamilton!"
Another man came forth and responded, "Ready, Sir!"
"Have LaFeyette take the lead!"

With their exchange handled, the voice from earlier came back, "A thousand soldiers die in one hundred degree heat as we snatch a stalemate from the jaws of defeat."

Just as Steve thought he had figured out what was happening, things had started to move faster than he could follow. For some reason Charles was now looking at Steve, telling him how the best thing Washington could do was go back to Mount Vernon.

Steve thought they were just at the Battle of Monmouth with the sounds of battle raging around them, but now the silence stood out more than the screams had just a moment ago. Now he was on a hill, a doctor was looking the other way, and Hamilton and Charles Lee were counting paces with guns in their hands.

"Stop!" Steve screamed, "What the fuck is happening?!"

The two men stopped at five paces and both turned to look at Steve.

For some reason, the fact that Hamilton was Latin American only stood out to him now, rather than when he first saw him during the battle.
"We're dueling... and there's ten things you need to know!"
A group of people came from nearby and spoke in chorus, "The Ten Duel Commandments!"

Before they could get to another line, Steven screamed again: "Stop singing! What the fuck are you doing?! You just finished a battle and now you want to shoot each other? Do you not care that a thousand men died just a moment ago? What are you even dueling for?!"

Hamilton opened his mouth to speak, but he froze mid-word. It wasn't just Hamilton either, Steve noticed that everyone around him had frozen in place.