Children of Villains (Hamilton Fanfiction)

Where It All Goes Up In Flames

Two days had passed, and Philip, Frances and André were walking down the hall to Elizabeth Paul's office. Philip's heart was pounding in his chest. Frances noticed his nervousness and gently squeezed his hand. "You'll do great, I'm sure. We'll be waiting for you outside, alright?" Philip nodded and knocked on the door. From inside, he heard a voice telling him to come in. He walked in and closed the door behind him, then turned to face the woman sitting in front of him at the desk. She looked young, a bit younger than Philip, perhaps not even yet an adult. She had straight brown hair that was put up in a tight bun, and piercing green eyes.

"Welcome, Mr. Hamilton. Please take a seat", she said. Philip obeyed and sat down at the other side of the desk, the woman shooting him an assuring smile. "My name is Elizabeth Paul, I'm here to represent our second liberal party. We heard of your story, and we want to support you." Philip noticed his foot was tapping on the ground nervously, and he swallowed hard. "Yes ma'am, but what can I do?" Another smile washed over the woman's face. "Let's drop the formalities first. You can call me Lizzy, okay? Ma'am makes me feel old, and I'm only 17 anyways." Philip relaxed slightly at the warm and casual tone and chuckled. "Okay, I'm Pip. Mr. Hamilton makes me feel old too, and I'm 19, that's barely adult." Lizzy laughed and nodded. "Perfect. Well, regarding your question, it's best if you-"

She was cut off by alarms going off. Her smile dropped. "That means someone's in here that shouldn't be. We have to go, quickly, to the basement!" Lizzy pulled Philip out the door and down the hallway. They ran, or rather Lizzy ran while making sure Philip's coming along, and Philip was half tripping half jumping after her. They made it to the basement without encountering anybody, and quickly hid in one of the rooms, locking the thick metal door. With a sigh, Lizzy turned to Philip. "I'm sorry for pulling you, but we had to be quick. We're safe here." Philip was about to respond, but the words got stuck in his throat when he heard a dark chuckle from the dark corner of the room. "I wouldn't exactly call your position safe", the voice said. Lizzy and Philip both turned towards the man who was now walking out of the shadows. He had curly hair and a magenta velvet suit, the grin on his face showed triumph. "Ah yes, Philip and Angelica Hamilton. I've been looking to find the both of you in such a situation. And now? Now it all seems so easy." Philip's head snapped around and he stared at Lizzy. "What does he mean by Angelica?" His voice trembled as he asked the question. Lizzy sighed.

"You're not the only one who survived that night in the shed... I know you don't remember, but we still very young, and when it started we both ran towards a corner of the old shed. The man with the gun shot at you and hit your leg, you went crashing against the wall... the wood was old enough that it broke on impact, and we managed to squeeze through the hole and run. They sent one of the conspirators after us, but he took pity and let us go, I think you know his name... John André is what it was. You broke down unconscious a good bit away in the woods, and I stayed next to you. Eventually we got found by our dad. When you woke up you couldn't remember anything, and dad decided to bring you far away. I went away too, but I remembered everything, and when I grew older I went into politics... I never contacted you until now because it would bring you into danger. And look where we are now..."

The man in front of them grinned. "Danger, that's right. I'm here to finish what I started. Now, without much talking, up against the wall!" The man pulled a handgun from his jacket, and Philip instictively stepped back. Angelica stayed where she was, looking as if she had prepared for this moment all her life. And yet, Philip knew she was panicking. Her hands were balled into fists and shaking, tears started forming in her eyes. "Why are you doing this, Jefferson?! You have what you want, you have this whole fucking country in your hands!" Philip's face paled when he heard the name. Jefferson rolled his eyes. "And your presence threatens to take that away from me. Now I won't say it again, up against the wall!" With the gun pointed at him and his sister, Philip stayed, hoping to get enough time for anyone to come and save them. He felt dizzy as he tried to make sense out of the story Angelica had told. André? And Angelica? Dad?

"I'm not gonna repeat myself again! Up against the wall, now!" Philip reluctantly did as he was told, and watched as Angelica took a few steps back, stopping when she hit the door. She was talking, but Philip didn't comprehend the words. Instead he was focused on her hand, which was fumbling behind her back to unlock the door. Philip heard his blood rushing in his ears, his heart was beating and he felt adrenaline rush through him each time she touched the key. "Aww, does little Angie Hamilton want to escape again?" Jefferson pointed the gun at her head. Philip's heart skipped a few beats, he let out a sob as the man pulled the trigger. He turned away, scared to see, and sank to the ground sobbing. Then he felt the warm shaft of the gun press against the top of his head. He looked up at the man, tears running down his face. There were a few drops of blood on his cheek, and he looked down at Philip with an unreadable expression. "Sweet little Philip Hamilton... I would've let you live, but that was back then when you still had no idea about all of this. Now you're in the way... I'm sorry, I really am." The man brushed Philip's hair out of his face. "Is there anything you still want to say?"

Philip's gaze turned to the right. There was his sister, lying on the ground, taken from him as quickly as they had found eachother again. And suddenly, Philip felt calm. He made eye contact with the man holding the gun to his forehead. He looked scared and ready to give up. "I guess I should thank you for making it quick... in a way, I'm happy to meet my dad again. Do you think I'll regain my memory in heaven...?" There was a shift in Jefferson's expression. Philip knew he didn't see a 19-year-old man in front of him, he still saw the little boy from back then. He smiled softly. "I'm sure you will. Do you want me to count or make it a surprise? You won't even notice, I promise." Philip smiled softly, he tasted the salt of his own tears. "Count please... can I say one more thing?" Jefferson nodded. Philip sighed softly. "I'm glad there's metal between us."

He flicked on the lighter he had pulled from his pocket while keeping eye contact with Jefferson and which was now held right against the man's leg. The purple velvet went up in flames immediately, and Philip ducked out of the way and ran to the door. He heard the man screaming, and the sound of his body falling to the ground as he rolled around trying to put the fire out. Philip turned around. "I wish I could've made it quicker for you, but I wanted to prepare you for hell." And with that, he unlocked the door and fled. There was no one in the basement, and outside he heard the voices of many people. He ran up the stairs and to the door, his heart beating fast. It felt as if something in him had clicked, some force was helping him.

And then he remembered. He remembered the time he spent with his father and dad, the time with Frances, the execution, everything. He stood still in front of the door, taking a deep breath before opening it. There was a crowd of people who all turned their heads to him. He saw André and Frances, elbowing their way to him. He made a gesture for them to wait, and then turned his gaze forward. "Jefferson is dead!", he called out to the people. He felt that someone was standing with him, someone who had stood here and called out to the crowd many times before. And Philip felt calm. Gasps went through the audience. "My name is Philip Hamilton. Nine years ago, that man killed my family. There was no scandal, and there was no money to have gone anywhere! The whole story was a setup, and in the last years you felt the consequences of it. Now you can rebuilt this country the way it's supposed to be!"

Cheers went through the crowd, and Philip quickly walked down the stairs and to André and Frances. André stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? Angelica told you everything, didn't she?" Philip nodded, the adrenaline that had kept him on his feet the last few minutes was gone with the wind, and he fell into André's chest and hugged him tightly. "Angie's dead..." The man sighed softly and pulled Philip close. "Let's get you home... you need rest and a warm bed." Philip nodded and he felt himself be picked up and brought to a car. With closed eyes, he was soon leaning against Frances on the back seat while André was driving. It was quiet in the car, no word was spoken. As Philip was falling asleep, his mind started to put the puzzle pieces together. "Hey André...?" The driver hummed to signal him that he was listening. "Why did you end up saving me and Angie...?" The man hesitated, then shrugged. "I don't know. Guilt, mostly." Philip nodded and sighed. "Well, thank you..." With that, he passed out.