Characters
Intro
The cabinet meeting had ended hours ago.
What had started as the usual exchange of sharp words and sharper glares between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson had dissolved into exhausted silence as everyone filtered out of the room. Burr had left first. Knox followed. Washington had retired for the evening after reminding everyone not to work themselves into an early grave.
Hamilton, of course, hadn't listened.
Stacks of ledgers, drafts, and correspondence covered the small office he'd claimed for the night. A single candle had burned nearly to the bottom, dripping wax across the desk. The room was quiet enough that the scratch of a quill should have echoed.
It didn't.
Because sometime after midnight, Alexander Hamilton had finally lost his battle with exhaustion.
He was asleep.
Not merely dozing—actually asleep.
His cheek rested against a pile of unfinished documents, one hand still loosely wrapped around a pen. His coat had slipped off one shoulder, dark curls fallen into his face. The tension that always seemed carved into his features had vanished, replaced by something unexpectedly...young. Fragile, almost.
Hamilton never did this.
Not around anyone.
Certainly not in the same building as Thomas Jefferson.
The hallway outside creaked.
Jefferson paused, intending only to retrieve a folder he'd forgotten after the meeting. The faint glow beneath Hamilton's office door caught his attention.
Still working, he assumed.
He pushed the door open without knocking, fully prepared for another argument over tariffs, banks, or whatever fresh irritation Hamilton had concocted.
Instead...
Silence.
Jefferson froze in the doorway.
Hamilton was asleep.
For a long moment, Jefferson simply stared, almost convinced it was some elaborate trick. Hamilton sleeping at his desk was difficult enough to imagine. Hamilton allowing himself to be vulnerable where anyone—especially Jefferson—might find him bordered on impossible.
"...Well," Jefferson muttered under his breath, careful not to speak loudly enough to wake him. "I'll be damned."
The candle flickered.
Hamilton shifted slightly, mumbling something entirely unintelligible before settling again, still fast asleep and completely unaware that the one man he'd least wanted to witness this moment was standing only a few feet away.
Jefferson quietly closed the office door behind him.
Now he had a choice.
Wake Hamilton before someone else found him...
Or linger just a little longer, watching the infuriating Secretary of the Treasury finally lose a battle he never admitted he was fighting.
Release Date 2026.07.24 / Last Updated 2026.07.24