Burrens Shorts

In the Eye of a Hurricane

Aaron Burr clung tightly to the reigns of his horse as the wind whipped around him pushing his clothes almost knocking him over. He had seen storms before, but never like this. The rain pounds down above him, resulting in him being soaked in a matter of minutes. The wind was so fast it was blowing over tents and knocking soldiers off their feet. The weirdest piece of it all was the yellow sky.

"What is going on here?" Lafayette shouts, his French accent rising above the wind with a higher pitched sound.

Aaron notices Alexander standing there shaking. He mumbles something under his breath that only Washington seems to catch. "What was that son?!" He shouts loudly.

"In the eye of a hurricane... there is quiet... for just a moment, a yellow sky..."

Aaron's eyes widened as he looked around before shouting. "John?! Where is Colonel Laurens?!"

Washington frowns, "I-I don't know... he was in Lee's regiment!" He insists looking panicked when he realizes Laurens wasn't there.

Aaron cries out, "But Lee's regiment returned over an hour ago!"

Washington shakes his head turning to attempt to and comfort Alex enough to get information out of him on what they should do.

Aaron sees Lee in the corner smirking and his eyes widened. Despite his brain screaming at him to do otherwise Aaron took off out of camp riding on top of Cookie. "John! John!" He screams through the loud sounds of the wind howling like a wolf.

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After about an hour of searching Aaron was pulling Cookie back towards camp, his fingers blue and frozen from the cold water dripping from his skin as he sloshed through the mud.

He knew he had to get back to stay alive. However a noise caused him to stop. He listened again figuring he must be hearing things, but then he heard the sound again, barely eligible over the wind. A voice he knew far too well, saying a word he knew so well.

"Ronnie..." the sound was weak.

Aaron dropped the reigns of his horse and took off in the direction of the sound. Over the raging river, there John was swaying. He was held up by one arm, a bullet wound in his shoulder. The arm he hung from had popped out of the socket. Laurens was naked, water pouring off his skin. "R-Ronnie..." he whimpers once more as the two lock eyes. He watches the way Lauren's eyes instantly fill with tears that pour over his face.

Aaron runs over to him. He climbs onto the log walking to the middle of the river trembling on his knees. The log must have been way less slippery when Lee did this, because the log hadn't been wet and the water hadn't been slapping the bottom of his legs. Aaron gets to John clinging to his waste as he almost wiped out. He manages to untie his arms. John fell into his arms, and for a brief second there was relief between the two. But it didn't last long as Aaron suddenly felt his feet slip off the log and the two both plunge into the river. Aaron tries to drag John to the surface... but it fails. The two get washed down the river beaten by the rocks and waves. All Aaron can do as his life flashes before his eyes and everything fades away is keep a tight grip on John's hand.

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Aaron blinks as he shoots up instantly groaning as he pukes out water. He looks a few feet away to where John sat on his knees There was a small string of drool falling from his lips.

"J-John... d-did I just... just..." he couldn't bare the thought of finishing the sentence.

John just nods tears in his eyes, "I thought I lost you forever."

Aaron looks at him frowning. "What about you? You're still bleeding! Your arm!May I- I help you?" He asked, tone gentle.

John looks at it, a small pained moan slips out of his lips as his attention returns to the wounds and in turn the pain.

Aaron reaches into his pocket relieved to find that two items remained. Number one, a needle and a thread. Number two, a pocket knife. Aaron grabs the needle and thread sewing John's bullet wound shut, after removing the bullet with a pocket knife. He finally shoves John's other arm back into place and bandages the bullet wound with his shirt.

Aaron sighs shivering as he looked up at the sky. It was a very pale yellow color. "Do you think that will happen again?" Aaron whispers, the smallest hint of fear in his voice.

John looks up and frowns. "Let's set up camp. Perhaps we can find some dry wood that was saved by the trees..." he suggested.

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After at least a hour of searching they had managed a small fire. Aaron had stripped down to nothing but his boxers to let his clothes dry. Excluding his pants, he had cut them short for John to wear so that he wasn't completely exposed.

Aaron couldn't help but eventually asked, "why were you left hanging naked? Did they..."

John shook his head, but hesitated before finally speaking. "General Lee... he is a British Spy... I found out and so he left me as pray to the British for torture... and he hoped me being naked might appeal to them... cause them to do other things... in my mind, worse than torture. They were supposed to come that way... Lee knew that... but I suppose... the hurricane stopped them..." he whispers wiping his eyes.

Aaron gently pulls his hands away, wiping John's eyes himself smiling gently, even though he was on the verge of tears as well. "I am glad they never came."

John laughs, it was a deeper laugh, which caused Aaron to blush. "Me too..." John admits hugging Aaron tightly as he suddenly breaks into tears. "Thank you...! Thank you for coming to find me Ronnie." He cries out. "No one else did!"

He rubs his back gently soothing him, until he felt John's gentle snores against his bare chest.

Aaron laughs slightly as he gently lays down John's head on his chest. He gently kisses his forehead. He tries to stay up and watch, but the warmth of the other man against his bare wet skin soothed him to sleep.

That was how they stayed as their small fire burned out, Lieutenant and Colonel in a tangle of naked limbs. And when they returned to camp within the following few days, there two pinkies tied together as a small touching reminder as they returned to normal life. Nothing was ever the same again. Colonel Laurens, and his lieutenant, Aaron Burr...