"I don't give a fuck Jefferson! I can see him if I want!"
     "You have to realize, we're going to find a way to speak with John weather you like it or not."
     "He's our friend, you can't keep us away from him just because you're falsely accusing him."
     "Fine! If you want to see him that badly, fine!" Jefferson finally shouts. I can hear footsteps again, but then Jefferson says something else. "One at a time." The footsteps pause, and I can then hear quiet arguing. I then hear a door open and close. I look up and see Hercules walking towards me through the wooden prison. It turns out, deep into the forest, the rebels built a small prison to hold their enemies and traitors. When you first walk in, all you see is a desk, and a door to the right of the desk. Behind the door are four cells that are entirely made out of wood, since the rebels had no access to metal. It's not the worst cell I've ever been in, at least there's a small window. At least sunlight can flitter in, even if I can't be outside to enjoy it.
     "How are you, John?" Herc asks me immediately. I mutely reach for his hands through my cell bars, and he takes them without hesitation. We're quiet for a moment. I don't say anything, because I'm wondering if I want to cry. But I'm too exhausted cry. I've cried so much and slept so little. So I don't cry.
     "I'm fine," I finally croak. But I know this answer won't be sufficient for Herc, who always wants to know everything. I guess him knowing everything about me and Laf makes him feel as if he's in command of something. It makes him feel as if there's something in his life that he can hold onto. "I'm serious. After everything that's happened, honestly, this is kind of an improvement. Even if I am charged as guilty, what's the worse that can happen? I get thrown back into here. Waiting for the Captain to come back and attack us. Because we know he will."
     "That doesn't line up with my definition of 'fine'." Herc comments, and I shrug. We sit in silence again.
     "I'm really glad to see you. I'm glad you're safe." I break the tension.
     "Yeah. I'm glad your okay too. Well- you know what I mean," he replies. "Actually, I have something I want to ask you." he says, staring me dead in the eye. I feel him tighten his grip around my hands. "I've known you for a very long time."
"Yeah." I say, so he knows I'm listening.
"John I- I was wondering if, well... I see how you look at Alex and I was wondering... how exactly do you feel about Alex?" he says quickly, clearly rushing to get the words out. As Hercules said, we've known each other for a very long time. I could have known him for half my life, and that would still be not what I expected him to say.
"I- I don't know," I say, flustered. "I mean, I don't know him that well but I like him- as a friend." Why did Herc ask this? What answer did he expect to get? Does he know how I feel when I think about Alex? Does he know how scary those feelings are?
"John," Hercules says, breaking into my thoughts. "I want what's best for you. That's all I ever wanted. It's clear to me that you like this boy."
"That's just it Herc," I whisper, tightening my grip on his hands. "He makes me feel happy. And it's so weird- people say that you can never love another person if you don't love yourself. But that's bullshit! I've never loved myself. But Alex... it's just- complicated. I've never loved anyone like this before, all these feelings are new and scary. And I'm so afraid that I'm going to end up hurting someone." I can feel my hands shaking, and Herc squeeze them tighter still. I close my eyes shut. No. No you promised yourself you wouldn't cry. You are not going to cry.
"It's always scary. I get scared by any new feeling all the time. Especially when I feel happy. For some reason, I think that if I get to happy, someone's going to take my happiness away. I have- never loved anyone. But if I did- I wouldn't hide it from myself. Tell Alex how you feel." Hercules tells me.
"What if he gets weirded out? And he doesn't want to be friends with me anymore?" I question, eyes still closed, trying to block out the darkness that seems to surround me. "If that's the case, I'd be okay with just staying as friends."
"After that you two have been through together, I don't think he's going to do that to you," Herc states. We hear knocking on the door leading to the other room, and Herc groans. "I have to go, but I'll be back tomorrow." he says, he then releases our hands and stands up. He walks half way to the door, turns around, and smiles. This is the first in a long time, that I've seen him smile like that. If he managed to do that for me, all of his words about Alex, they must be true. He must believe that this is the right thing to do. And finally, I believe him.

Soon after Herc leaves, Laf comes in, and tells me how sorry he is about the situation I'm in. He proceeds to go more in-depth about the rebels' plans. But for some reason, I can't really focus on what he's saying. I can't help but think about what Hercules said to me. I know Alex and Herc don't really like each other, well, maybe they're more like friendly acquaintances, but other than that, they don't really interact with each other. And now he's telling me to confess to Alex. It's weird. Just a week ago, my mind was in one of the worst states it's ever been in. But now, my overprotective best friend is willing to take a risk, and give me a chance. Before Lafayette leaves he says something that catches my attention.
"John, I was wondering, what did you think when you saw us in the back of that truck?" Laf asks, referring to when I saw him and Alex chained at the Captain's base.
"I thought- well it was something like: 'Oh no, he got you too?'" I answer numbly.
"Well, believe or not, it was all a part of our master plan! To rescue you!" Laf says happily. I raise my eyebrows at him.
"So your master plan, was to get caught, incarcerated, and then somehow rescue me and yourselves? Brilliant." I say sarcastically.
"Well- technically I was going to send you a letter but we don't talk about that. What I wanted to say was... never mind."
"Wait, wait, you can't do that! Tell me what you were going to say!" I beg, but Laf just shakes his head.
"Forget it. It's not important." he states, but I can't help but notice that he looks slightly uncomfortable, and I can't figure out why.
We talk for a few more minutes until Jefferson yells at us, telling us that Lafayette's time is over. So he stands up and leaves. The moment I see Laf's ponytail whip around the door frame, Alex comes barging in. "This is bullshit!" he says immediately. "You've done nothing wrong! Oh, I'll get Jefferson for this. I can't believe Washington agreed to this stupid trial! I'm sorry you have to deal with this shit John."
"Calm down." I say, slightly astonished. "I think you're more worked up about this than I am."
"Well, what am I meant to do? Just brush it off like it's nothing? I- we just got you back, and now you're thrown into another cell. This is so unfair." Alex replies.
"I can't contradict that," I say glumly. "This was one of the only places where I thought I was safe, but now everyone sees me as a traitor." Alex shakes his head and growls something under his breath.
"I could- maybe I could write about what you've been through. Your innocence! If I send these letters to the right people, I could help prove that you're not guilty!" he says excitedly. "You have to let me try! Please John?"
"I- uh, what?" I say stupidly. "Letters? What I've been through?"
"Your life story! See, if we make people feel bad for you, they'll want to get you out of this cell." Alex explains.
"But... what if I don't want anyone to feel bad for me? I don't want people to know about me." I mutter.
"If we do this, this could be the quickest way to get you released. You'll be treated properly! I don't care how many sleepless nights I have to endure, I can do this. We can do this!" Alex argues. I think about, I really do. I consider everything. He could get me out of a cell? But for how long? Sleepless nights? What is he planning on doing? And most importantly, this is for me. This is only for me, this isn't going to benefit anyone else. I don't want Alex to only do this for me, because he clearly isn't planning on taking care of himself.
"Okay. I'll let you write about me, on one condition!" I agree. I stare sternly at Alex, so he knows I'm serious. "Get some sleep, Alexander. You don't want those circles under your eyes to stay there forever, do you?" Alex smiles, and nods.
"You want me to take care of myself?" he asks, and I nod vigorously. "Then you take care of yourself as well, John." he noticed. He noticed that I haven't been eating, even though as a guard, I could have eaten better than I had as a slave. He noticed I haven't been sleeping. He's noticed the tired look in my eyes from so many nights of crying. If he noticed all of this, what else has he noticed? And will notice? Does he care about me this much, to try and secure my release? Or am I deluding myself?