Hamilton Oneshots

Meggy (Paria)

Trigger Warning: Mentions of Abuse

Requested by flvral 

Peggy stretched out on her very soft sofa, currently she was inside the house she shared with her sisters Angelica and Peggy. They'd promised to stay together forever and the fact that all three of them had nabbed fame didn't change that. Peggy wished she had done something as great as continual disaster relief and charity work like Eliza or Angelica's continual feminist-centered politics as the serving Senator of New York but she was just a popular movie, TV show, and Broadway actress. She would have been a reality TV star too but she declined it as she couldn't have cameras around her that often videotaping her everyday life because of Angelica's sensitive work that she goes to Eliza and Peggy about on occasions.

She heard the door open and got up instantly, running over and helping Eliza bring the groceries in before speaking, "So I was offered something." She began and Eliza sat down at the breakfast bar, prompting her to continue as she gave Peggy her undivided attention, "A joint album with the one and only Miss. Maria Reynolds." Peggy told her but before Eliza could congratulate her on scoring a deal with probably the most popular female artist of their time Peggy added, "I've only ever done cast recordings though can I do a song that doesn't have a story built into it or background?" She asks nervously, "I-I'm not that good at inflecting emotion unless I've got a clear character that I've been researching."

Eliza smiled and patted her back, "Just imagine that you are a character. Does the album have a theme to it?" She asked and pulled Peggy into the seat next to her.

"Heartbreak," Peggy answered, "Modeled after Maria's pending divorce to James Reynolds." She added. It had been in the media for weeks, the two had been together since before Maria ever got a record deal but it came out he was quite the abusive asshole and their divorce was being settled.

"Then..." Eliza got up and reached into her bag until she pulled her tablet out and walked back over, climbing into the seat and passing the tablet to Peggy, "Research their marriage and study it. Maria will be your character." Eliza said.

Peggy nodded and hugged Eliza, "Thanks." Eliza nodded and left Peggy to the tablet. Peggy found the Google Chrome app, opening and searching 'Maria Reynolds divorce' into it and clicking on the first article until she realized she'd clicked on an article from The Onion and backspaced before finding an accurate article and clicking on that instead as she got her notepad and pen out to take notes as she read the very detailed articles.

For hours Peggy sat at the breakfast bar just researching, briefly explaining what she was doing to Angelica when she came home from work. Angelica told her it was a good idea before she locked herself away in her study to work. In the end, Peggy had pages of notes.

Maria Reynolds's maiden name is Lewis which is the name she will return to when she divorces James. Maria and James have an eight-year-old daughter named Susan Reynolds, Maria will get full custody of the child because of the domestic charges James has pleaded guilty to. Maria has admitted to violent acts against her but insists she did and always had loved her husband. Maria and Susan both say James never touched his daughter though many dispute this. All of this was revealed suddenly and immediately following it Maria seemed to drop off the face of the Earth though her massive fan base suspects she will make her return following the divorce settlement, many suspect an album-the joint album?

Peggy sighed, all of that for just those few notes. She was better than this, she was way more observant and better than this. She could write books on a single character from Broadway that she's played, like Fiona from Shrek and Jasmine Cephas-Jones from Miranda an American Musical as well as the other characters she has played on the silver screen. New page; personality, and feelings speculation time.

Maria probably feels helpless in this situation and targeted by multiple media outlets for more clicks and more of all: clickbait. Maria is hopeless at her marriage's failure and heartbroken as she loved James but it was not enough. Maria, for a time, felt like disappearing but realized she could use this moment in her life to propel herself into a better state in her career by using all of her emotions to create an album detailing her strife and opening up herself for the world to judge.

She puts the notepad down and stretches, why couldn't she break through to this character? She smacked her notepad to her forehead until there was a ring at the door making her pop up and open the door in confusion as nobody was actually supposed to get to the door, the men at the gate should only let in members of their work and family. However, when she opened the door she realized why there was a person there.

"Wh-What?" Peggy stared at this woman in utter shock as she gaped like a fish and grabbed for the right words to say until she gave up.

Maria smiled and held up a peace sign, "I wanted to go over the lyrics with you." She said and grabbed the straps of her backpack which looked a little small, "I know we agreed to co-write the album but I went a little overboard..."

"Th-That's okay," Peggy said, still in shock and shook her head to clear it, "Come in-in." She opened the door wider, "I just wasn't expecting you is all, sorry."

"That's okay," Maria said as she waltzed in, "Can we work at this bar?" It was too late for Peggy to react when Maria made eye contact with the notepad, picking it up. A few moments later she turned to Peggy, "What's this?"

Peggy shifted from foot to foot, "I was trying to breach a character so I could inflict emotions into my voice for the album...I'm sorry." She thought she'd done something wrong and looked away.

"No-no it's okay. It's a bit accurate, more so than those lousy articles," She pulled what looked like a battered journal out, "Let's see how writing about me helped you. Sing this." She spent a few moments flipping through the book before handing it to Peggy.

Peggy, a bit shocked, tried to shrug it off and closed her eyes as she went through what she did before any show. She thought about the character and entered her Maria-zone, opening her eyes and singing, "I already know that you'll regret it...do you regret it? Can't you see? What you've done to this family? I think it's time for you to leave just let me burn in peace that would be enough and if your wife could have some peace of mine-if you could tell her why she was not enough. Let me tell you what I wish I had known when I was young and dreamed of glory; you have no control who breaks your heart then tells a story. I know that you can't win and everyone depends on you but remember from here on in; there is nothing that I can do~"

Maria clapped when Peggy finished and opened her journal, scribbling in some notes. "Sorry, it isn't finished." She said quickly, "But that was amazing! Better than I could do! We're going to make a great team you and I. What should our name be?"

"Umm...Meggy?" Peggy suggested while trying not to blush at the praise, "Since you're the singer your name goes first." She summarized.

"Oh...makes sense," Maria said and patted the seat next to her which Peggy climbed into. Quickly they fell into a lull of brainstorming up lyrics and singing them offhandedly to see if they clicked. Peggy couldn't help but feel sad when Maria left but...she felt less sad when she found Maria's number with a kiss mark in her notebook.