Running Out of Time

Chapter 7 - Old Dogs, New Tricks (What's Luck Got To Do With It?)

"Lafayette," Hamilton gave him a scrutinizing look, "you can see me?"

"Oh, of course, I can," Lafayette smiled.

Peggy and Hamilton exchanged a brief look before Hamilton continued, "why didn't you say anything?"

Lafayette shrugged, "I wanted to see how long you could go."

Peggy watched as Hamilton took a deep breath and a moment to think before using her hand to smack Lafayette in the face. "Don't you dare say you didn't deserve that," Hamilton squinted, "I am very vulnerable right now. This is added stress."

"Added stress," Peggy raised an eyebrow at him, "you have added stress? Hamilton, you're literally in my hand right now."

"Okay, you have a point there," Hamilton popped himself back on the counter. "So what do we do now?"

It was a brief moment of silence between the three of them. No one was certain. Of course, they knew they would have to figure out how to get Hamilton out of Peggy's hand but that still sounded impossible. It would take some time to figure out, that much was clear. On the bright side, it was no longer only Hamilton and Peggy. They would have Lafayette's help in figuring the rest of everything out. I was plausible that he would be able to help them find where Hamilton's body was, Hamilton wasn't about to forget about that.

Hamilton had more motivation than before to try and find his body. Now, he had to believe that it was out there and waiting for him. He had to believe it was possible for him to get back o being a person. If he was doing this for anyone, it would be Laurens. Hamilton wasn't having the easiest time watch his best friend be this stressed, he wanted to hold him.

--

Peggy sat on the side of the couch rubbing her temple with her good hand. Somehow, she had managed to get a full night's sleep with Hamilton still stuck to her hand. Up until now, things had been going relatively well with everything considered. Hamilton was having a little more fun than Peggy was with this situation. He had figured out how to write with her hand, so, there had been a lot of that.

"Hey, Peggy," Hamilton chuckled lightly.

"What is it," she knew exactly what it was, it had been the same thing for the past ten minutes.

"Why are you hitting yourself?"

Slowly, she turned her head to look at him. He had been using her hand to tap the side of her face. He wasn't being rough but it was enough to start to bother her. "You know," she softened, "I could probably find an exorcist somewhere, I don't think it would be that hard."

Hamilton stopped tapping her face. He wasn't convinced she was serious but there were times when he couldn't tell. This was one of those times.

--

Hamilton did his best to assist Peggy in going about her day normally but he still didn't understand some of her routines. The day was fairly frustrating for both of them but they managed to survive. Usually it would stress Peggy out when her sisters both started work early and were off late but it had been nice that day. It gave her and Hamilton room to talk and try various things to get him out of her hand.

The two were almost at their wits end. They had tried literally everything they could think of, Peggy knew there was only one place left to turn. She wasn't certain about whether or not she was prepared for what might be waiting for her but she had to find out. She couldn't understand why she hadn't thought of it sooner, there was only one person she was lucky enough to know  who was an expert on these sort of things.

--

"Ah, Peggy," Lafayette greeted as he opened the door, "I see you and Hamilton are still close."

"I'm still mad at you," Hamilton glared.

"Lafayette," Peggy's tone was the opposite of Hamilton's, "have you told Herc about this situation yet?" She smiled as he shook his head. "I think now might be a good time."

Hamilton and Peggy walked inside while Lafayette ran off to find Mulligan. Peggy knew that Mulligan would be able to figure something out. Whether it would help or be permanent was yet to be determined, there was still some hope. Peggy knew that, out of everyone, Mulligan would be the easiest to understand the little Hamilton situation that was ongoing. He would be the most likely to understand.

"What's going on," Mulligan and Lafayette walked back into the room.

"Well, a lot," Peggy couldn't help but beat around the bush at first. It didn't take her long to get to the point. "The real issue is that there is a ghost who claims not to be a ghost following me around. Now," she looked at Hamilton before looking back at Mulligan, "that wouldn't bother me except for the fact that I can see and hear him, oh, and he's stuck in my hand."

"Stuck in your hand," Mulligan raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not a ghost," Hamilton interjected, "tell him I'm not a ghost."

"I have been stuck with him since yesterday. It's nothing against him, I just don't want him attached to me anymore," Peggy let out a little sigh.

"I'm guessing he's not your favourite," Mulligan chuckled as he opened the cupboard under the bookshelf.

"Well, it's taught me that I don't have as much patience as Eliza," she joked. She had certainly experienced moments that she wondered how exactly Eliza had stayed married to him.

Mulligan placed a box on the coffee table between them, "you know who it is?"

"Yeah, it's Hamilton," Peggy explained. She couldn't help but smile as Mulligan's face lit up.

They all watched as he began to pull various things from the box. At first it was normal, a spoon and a bowl, however, the four jars of powder confused Peggy slightly. Mulligan opened the jars, poured the powder into the bowl, and mixed everything together. "Okay," he looked over at her, "now, stick your hand in there."

"Is this going to kill me," Hamilton raised a concern and Peggy pulled up her sleeve.

"Don't worry about it," Lafayette brushed his hand at Hamilton.

It was a strange process to watch. As Peggy pushed her hand into the powder, Hamilton's hand stayed just above it. Finally, they were separated. Hamilton moved a few steps back as she pulled her hand off to shake it clean. Both of them took a few seconds to squeeze their own hands a couple times. This was one thing that was finally dealt with. 

Hamilton wouldn't admit that he might missing being able to touch and interact with things, he hoped it would be fixed soon. Now, it might be easier for him to find his body and try to become a person again. At first, he hadn't been overly hopeful that there would be a body to find but now he was convinced. Of course, he hadn't seen anything that would convince him but he had to think of something.

Hamilton didn't hear the conversation that was happening around him, Peggy was saying something but he just couldn't pay attention. There was someone talking to him but whoever that person was wasn't with him. They were somewhere else. "You're pretty lucky to have me, you know. Most people wouldn't go through this much trouble, I guess I'm not like most people." He had no idea who the voice belonged to but he could tell it was male. Maybe if he could figure out who's voice it was, he could figure out how to stop being a ghost. "I'll be back to check on you bright and early. Just remember, I still hate you."