Wings - A Hamilton Fanfic - Lams, Mullette, and Jeffmads

Chapter Thirty Five

John's P.O.V.

It's been a few days since I've sent off my angry letter to Major General Washington, and I'm still eagerly waiting for his reply, or even better, for him to appear here in Base 1776. I haven't talked to Lukas since, but I'm sure he is as excited as I am to be making a difference in what could be a win or lose situation.

On the side, Alexander has been sending me letters every day. Nothing too exciting is in them, he just writes random things, or how his day was, but it's so sweet of him to keep on writing. Of course, each letter takes a few days to arrive, so I can only reply to things that happened basically a week and a half ago. Kind of annoying, but at least he's writing!

"John!" As I sit in the barracks reading Alexander's latest letter, I hear Lukas's voice calling out for me. I turn and beam at him.

"Lukas! Gosh, we haven't talked in a while, what's up?" I greet him while carefully folding Alex's letter and tucking it in my pocket. Lukas seems much happier than he was, and in his hand, he's holding a letter, probably for a loved one.

"John! Major General Washington, has flipping arrived!" Lukas grabs my shoulders and lifts me out of my seat, leading me away.

"What!?" Already!?

"Yeah! Now come on, you gotta kick some sense into him!" Lukas says enthusiastically. He tells me that Washington is in the Training Area and that he needs to go deliver this letter. Lukas flies off while I walk over and start mentally preparing for what I'm going to say. Alright, gotta influence him to start taking the war seriously, gotta make sure we all don't end up as slaves, and...yeah. Just have to change some futures and save some lives. No pressure.

Gosh, I wish Alexander was here. He's so much better with his words and just persuading people in general. But, he is not. It's up to me.

I swallow nervously as I walk up behind Washington.

"Sir, hi, it's me John Laurens and-" I start, but Washington spins around and interrupts me.

"Laurens! I was very confused with that letter you sent me, was it perhaps a code of some sorts?" Washington grins and slaps me on my back.

"Wha-? No! I was..." I stammer. Suddenly, my anger in the whole situation comes rushing back to me. "I'm just concerned about the entire war situation, and I seem to be the only one around here who is!" I snap. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a pair of bright orange wings land somewhere to my left. Good, Lukas is here to help me out.

"I've heard about all the things happening under your watch, how Human soldiers are being captured, having their wings cut off, then being made into slaves!"

"Wha-what!? There's been nothing of the sort!"

"You're just lying to get yourself to seem like you're...actually doing something!" I feel my face heat up with rage. How dare he lie!

"Are you calling me a liar!?" Major General Washington's volume has been getting louder and louder, and by now the Winged soldiers training on the field have stopped to watch. For a moment I think I hear a soft giggle in the crows, but I must be imagining things.

"YES! A coward too, who is not doing anything to help win the war!" I shout back at him. Lafayette comes up nervously behind me and tries to tug me away.

"Okay mon ami, I don't know what you're doing but-"

"Let go!" I shake Lafayette off of me and stomp up to Washington.

"You're supposed to be a leader!" I spit at his feet. "Now I know that you're nothing but a lying scoundrel."

"You have stepped out of line, boy," Washington's voice is calm but laced with anger. I can tell he's trying to contain himself. "Wherever you have heard those...rumours from, they're not true. Humans do keep slaves, yes, but in the entire war effort, there have been no Winged prisoners of war at all. Casualties, yes, but no prisoners have been taken," Washington says. What? No. This can't be true. "And we're not losing the war. I can assure you that." Washington faces the mass crowd of soldiers.

"I can assure all of you that we are actually winning the war!" He exclaims, but with a grim look on his face. The adrenaline I was running on has disappeared. Instead of it, I just feel empty. Have I been fooled? Washington looks back at me. "Where did you hear those rumours anyway?"

"I uh, I've forgotten." I stammer out. The emptiness inside of me turns to hard determination. I'm going to confront Lukas myself. Washington sighs.

"Well Laurens, I'm very disappointed in you. Over some silly rumours, you have cost me a day of travelling and a day of work. We could've been one day closer to winning the war, but you have wasted that. I shall leave tomorrow, costing me a few more hours of travel. You have been very gullible."

And with that, the great Major General Washington flies away.

"John, what happened out there?" Lafayette asks me, concerned.

"I...I believed rumours and lies. I wasted precious time. Gosh, I'm an idiot," I mumble. I rub my eyes. How could I have believed Lukas? I barely know him! "I need some time to myself," I tell Laf. I fly off, back to my tent.

As I lie there and think, there's one statement from Washington I keep thinking about.

You have been very gullible.

Gullible.

I am quite gullible, aren't I? I trust everyone I meet way too much. I keep hearing that trust needs to be earned, but I seem to be just giving out trust to everyone I meet. I take out Alexander's letter from my pocket. Then again, if I hadn't trusted Alexander back when we first met, I would still be trapped with the Humans, or worse.

I'm confused. I need time to figure out all of this trust stuff. First off, I should stick to what I know.

And what do I know?

I know that Lukas lied to me.

*****

I've spent half an hour scouring camp for Lukas, and I finally find him near his tent.

"Lukas! We need to talk," I'm surprised by the hardness in my voice. Lukas is chatting to some other soldier, and his face falls when he sees me.

"John. I've been wanting to speak with you too. Come on, walk with me," He says, gesturing to the forest behind him. The soldier he's talking to looks at the both of us and must realise that this is important, for he scampers away quite quickly.

We walk together for a few minutes before Lukas finally speaks.

"You must be wondering why I lied to you," He begins. There's something different with his voice. It sounds... more real. "Well John, you were the perfect candidate." Okay, he's sounding pretty weird right now.

"You're gullible, you get angry easily, and your boyfriend is on good terms with Washington," Lukas carries on. He starts playing with something in his right hand, but I can't quite see it.

"I have to thank you, actually, for coming to find me," Lukas stops walking and faces away from me.

"Lukas, what's going on-" I stop myself when I see a flash, a shine, from whatever he's holding.

"You make my job much easier." Lukas turns around.

It's a knife.

(1225 words)