A/N gore warning at the end

The prison was silent, the only sound apparent to Alex being his own slow, steady breaths and the scratching of his pencil scribbling furiously in his journal. The cells had been locked up for the night not too long ago and now he was trapped in this room until morning. He had a bed, a desk, a small shelf, a lamp, a sink and a toilet. His journal, an assortment of clothes in grey, white and blue, and a few pencils. That was it. That was his cell.

Alex sighed, pausing with his writing and shaking his hand a little, it was growing sore from the constant pressure he was applying. Maybe he should stop soon, or not. Alex lifted his pencil, preparing to continue rambling about god knows what, when he heard a small sob. Alex's head shot up at the sound and he paused for a moment, holding his breath to listen carefully for anything else.

Soon his ears fine-tuned to the silence and he picked up a soft sound, it was extremely quiet but distinguishable as crying. Alex slowly stood from his bed and left his journal face down on the sheets, cautiously wandering towards his door. He grabbed the handle and tugged, but it didn't budge, he had forgotten it was locked. He was in prison. He couldn't just go roaming around at night anymore.

Alex tried to get a good glimpse through the window in his door but only saw the dark common room and two other doors. The difference was, one door was pitch black and the other emitted a soft glow. He couldn't quite see into the room as it was too far away and he was too short.

Alex cursed to himself for having such a short stature before shuffling backwards into his room. He looked around and his eyes fell upon the desk. He moved up to it and placed his hands firmly on the end.
1, 2, 3, PULL!
The desk was nailed to the ground.
Fuck
Alex froze for a moment, listening intently. The sobs had died down now. He moved back to the window and saw a figure pass by the light in the room across from his. It was John.

Had John been crying?
Alex wanted to go outside and make sure he was okay, pat him on the back, anything, but he was locked in his room. Alex watched as John flicked off his light and his room too fell into darkness.

Alex sighed in defeat and moved back to his bed. He picked up his journal and pencil, tapping his temple with the end of the pencil in a steady rhythm. Suddenly an idea popped into Alex's mind, and almost as quickly as he thought of it, he was putting it into practice.

Alex flipped to a new page in his journal and got to work on a letter for John.

Morning soon graced the prison and Alex was woken by soft taps tinkling on his cell door. He groggily looked up and saw John through the window, he wasn't looking into the room though, he seemed to be talking to someone else while he knocked.

Alex swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled himself up, slipping a baggy blue jumper on and snatching up his letter. As he opened the cell door he shoved the scrap of journal paper into John's chest and followed Lafayette and Hercules out of the common room.

John stood, holding the piece of paper and watching Alex leave with a quizzical expression. He looked down at the paper in his hands and unravelled it to reveal a page of finely printed writing. John began to read, the first line making him tense in the slightest.

John,
I heard you last night,

---

Alex sat, picking at his scrambled eggs with little motivation to actually eat. He was about ready to get up and leave when a familiar face popped into the cafeteria and called out his name.

"Hamilton!" Seabury smiled from the double doors. Alex glanced up from his tray as Samuel ushered him over.
Does he know what I saw? I'm getting slotted for this, why did I tell John?
Alex began to imagine every possible outcome of this conversation but as he reached Seabury he noticed the man's smile had never faulted.

"Alexander! I have news that your trial will be commencing in exactly one week's time from today!" Samuel exclaimed, his ID card swinging wildly around his neck. Alex's face instantly brightened at the news.
"Thank you so much!" He replied warmly.
"Good luck," Seabury finished, nodding and making his way back down the hall.

One more week.
That excited Alex, but before he could tell Hercules and Lafayette his news a thought struck him. One more week with John, Hercules and Marquis. He had to make this one week count. If he was never going to see John again, he was going to have to make his last week in prison worthwhile. And if he was never going to see Jefferson's crew again, he was definitely going to make this week worth while.

---

Monday, just like Tuesday, Alex had laundry duty with Lafayette. But today's duty was different, because John had abandoned his duty in the kitchens to make an appearance this morning. Alex wasn't sure why but was happy to go along with it, more time spent with John before his week was up.

Alex was enjoying a petty splash-fight between the four boys when he saw Charles Lee knock the security camera into the wall.
"Dear god, here we go." Alex muttered, leaving the splashing. John and Marquis seemed to catch on because they quickly stopped and watched as the guards were removed from the scene so they could have deniability.

When the victim was brought in though, John instantly shuffled behind Alex. Levi Weeks was being dragged by his arms into the laundry.

"I swear to fucking god Jefferson! You can't do this to one of your own boys!" Levi roared as he was tugged in and thrown to the floor.
"I can do this to anyone who disobeys me. Loyalty is a key factor of this system, and you are lacking Weeks." Jefferson threatened with sharp and exaggerated movements, grabbing Levi and lifting him to his feet.

"JOHN. THIS IS YOUR FUCKING FAULT." Levi spat as he was dragged towards the iron. Alex moved his hand back and grabbed John's hand, rubbing circles in his skin with his thumb soothingly. John reacted quickly and almost tried to tug his hand away, but soon decided he felt a lot safer with Hamilton holding him.

"Hands, Levi," Thomas sighed, lifting the lid of the iron board.
"No. John should be here, not me!" Levi yelled, clasping his hands behind his back. His face contorted into a horrible scowl. "He's the one who couldn't keep his mouth shut about Lee and Officer Seabury getting it on!" Levi shrieked in anger. Lee gasped and stepped backwards in horror while all eyes fell on him.

"Okay, so we're doing this," Jefferson muttered, as if he was tired of having to deal with Levi. Before any protests could be made Jefferson's hand clamped over the back of Levi's head and he shoved his face into the ironing table. A collective shout of horror washed over the laundry as half the room looked away and the other half stared on with their mouths agape.

Levi let an ear-piercing scream rip from his throat as the iron sizzled on his skin. Jefferson held him there for a moment before pulling the board away. Alex felt bile rise in his throat as he watched Levi's skin stick to the iron in thick globs, peeling away from his face like oobleck. John buried his face in Alex's back, Lafayette grabbing onto Alex's shoulder roughly and looking away.

Levi was pulled up to his feet by Jefferson and one other inmate, unconscious now. His face sizzled, flesh dripping off his jaw and bubbling. The whole right-side of his face was bright bloody red. His ear was grotesquely deformed, drooping and sticking to itself, folded in like a chatterbox.

Levi was tugged out while Charles fixed the security camera back in position.
"Get back to work," Thomas spat as he assisted in dragging Levi out of the laundry.