After what felt like days of being in the cell, Alexander figured out what Sam meant by trusting Maria and John Andre. Apparently, after Alex got taken, Laurens joined in on their little trust-circle. Hamilton refused to accept any food or drink from Laurens.
He barely wanted to take anything from Maria, why would he want to take it from his former best friend?
It was almost right after Maria and the Johns left that someone else came down. They made no attempt to be quiet so Alex knew that it wasn't Maria, Laurens, or Andre coming down one more time for something. At first, he thought it was for Sam since King would come down and take him upstairs. Hamilton didn't want to know what happened when Sam left.
Alex was surprised when the door to his cell opened, revealing a cocky looking John Adams in the doorway.
"You know, you might want to lose some of that weight," Hamilton said once Adams was inside.
"What?"
"For when Thomas finds me. You're going to need to outrun the cops and with all that flab you aren't going to be able to."
Alex shrugged. He felt his shoulders scrap against the rough wall that he was sitting against, but he chose to ignore it for the sake of looking like he didn't care what happened.
Adams rolled his eyes. "Thomas isn't looking for you."
"Mm, yes he is."
"No, he isn't."
"Is."
"Isn't!"
"He is."
"Not!"
"You're really lacking in maturity, are you sure you're the one supposed to be down here? I mean, King probably should have sent Reynolds or someone more capable of handling this." Hamilton shrugged again. "You probably snuck down here, which means you can't do anything to me without getting in trouble."
"King's the one that sent me down here! And Thomas isn't looking for you, he told me himself that he was glad you were gone."
"Hey, do me a favor, would you? Go tell King to get his ass down here or send someone that's at least decent at making me think that my boyfriend isn't looking for me. Honestly, the way you're talking just makes me think that he's getting too close for comfort and you're trying to get me away from having any hope of getting out." Alexander glared up at Adams. "Tell him I said hi next time you see him."
Adams stayed quiet and held a hard glare at Alex as he left. He left the door open so Hamilton assumed he'd be back. He heard another door open, the jingling of a chain, and shuffling back over to his cell door. He was beyond confused when Sam was shoved inside.
"Now," Adams said, a smirk pulling onto his face. "I can't do anything to you because you'd probably bite me and you were technically a part of our community. Samuel, on the other hand, is free game."
Alexander's fearless attitude dropped. Sam looked at him in confusion and Alex matched it.
"So we're playing a game! You can get out of here, Alex, if you take the job that you were given initially. Just switch places with Tom and you can be out of this! Not out of the organization, but out of the cell. What d'ya say?"
"Go fuck yourself."
Adams shrugged. He pushed his foot forcefully into Seabury's back, sending him to his hands and knees on the floor. Hamilton had no doubt that Sam would be bruising in a matter of hours.
"Every time you say no, Sammy here gets another hit. That was just your warning." Adams kept his foot on Samuel's back to keep him on his hands and knees, but not enough to actually push him down. "So, I'll ask again. What's it going to be."
By the time it was over, Sam was bleeding on the floor of the cell. Adams had left him there for a second while he apparently went to go get the first-aid kit. Alex didn't believe him until he threw an old looking tote into the cell, almost hitting Alexander in the head when he did, and shut the door.
Hamilton went as close to Sam as he could before ripping a part off of the sheet that was supposed to be a blanket. It was thin, so it's not like it was hard to do or such a huge loss. He sat Sam against the wall and poured rubbing alcohol on the sheet rag.
"I'm sorry," he muttered as he dabbed the cloth on some of the cuts. "I just can't do that to him."
"I wouldn't want you to," Sam whispered. "I'd do the same for Charles. No offense."
Alex had to smile as he resoaked the cloth in rubbing alcohol. "None taken."
Sam hissed in pain when Hamilton touched a cut on his forehead.
"Sorry, I have to clean it." Alexander tried going over it lightly but it didn't seem to help much.
It took maybe twenty minutes to get the blood cleaned up and get more strips of the sheet to wrap him with. By the time he was done, Alex had a child-sized sheet on the slab of bed and he'd definitely use it the next time King sent someone down.
They sat in silence for a second before Samuel spoke up.
"Can you tell me how we're getting out again?" He asked quietly.
Hamilton nodded. "We'll wait until Maria is one hundred percent trusted. She'll get Laurens and Andre to help out and once they're all on our side, one of them can get the keys to the chains. We can probably get out in the middle of the day while everyone other than Maria's gone. You said she knows the code to the cells, right?"
Sam nodded.
"So she can let us out. As soon as she does, we'll go straight to the police and tell them who they need to arrest. They'll get put in jail, we'll be out of here. . . But I'm not coming out without you. If they notice one of us gone they could just kill the other and leave."
"Then I'm not leaving without you either. Either we both get out, or we wait until that's a possibility."
Alex smiled at Sam. It wasn't a happy one, he wanted Sam to get out first, but it was almost sympathetic. Samuel had spent way longer in the cells than Alex had but he was still saying that he would wait until both of them could get out. And the worst part about it? Alexander knew that Samuel meant it. He sighed.
"You should rest off some of the pain. Just sleep in my bed," Hamilton offered. "We don't know when they're coming back to move you back into your own cell."
Sam nodded, he got up into the bed.
"Thomas is looking for you Alex. There's no way he isn't."
Alex smiled again.
"Good night, Sam."
"Good night." Almost immediately after he said that Sam fell asleep.
Once he was asleep, Alexander looked at the chain keeping him hooked to the wall. His ankle was starting to get sore under it. A part of him wondered if Adams was telling the truth about Thomas not looking for him, but the logical part knew that Jefferson was probably driving himself insane trying to find him.
He sighed and got as comfortable as he possibly could on the floor. He looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes, pretending for a second, just one second, that Thomas was hugging him after a nightmare.
He opened his eyes again, hoping to be in the dorm room. But he wasn't. He was still in the cell and Sam was still in his bed and, as much as he hated to admit it, he was still scared.
Beyond scared, actually, he was absolutely terrified and he didn't even know if he was going to make it out alive. Sure, he was telling Sam that he had a plan, but there were so many flaws in the plan that it would never work, not even with an insane amount of luck. It was just a story that he was telling to keep Sam's hopes up for when someone finds him. Alex figured that if he mouthed off enough, the focus would stay on him and off of Samuel, then maybe Sam would be able to get found before he got too hurt.
Hamilton sat up and pulled his knees to his chest like a little kid that was scared of the dark. It didn't exactly feel brave or anything, but no one was around and Sam was asleep so he let himself cry for a little while.
"Please be close, Thomas," Alex whispered to himself. "I don't want to be here, please just be close."