Treasure Hunters: A National Treasure Fanfiction

Chapter Eight: Doing What They Knew Was Right

It was finally Friday, the night of the gala. This was it.

"Okay Ben," Riley said as he pulled to a stop across the street from the Archives and Ben hopped out. "Last chance: are you sure you want to do this-" He was cut off by Ben slamming the door. Riley and Alex took that as a yes, Riley putting on his headset and Alex an earpiece so that she could hear her brother.

"Can you guys hear me?" came Ben's voice loud and clear over the radio.

"Yep," answered Alex.

"Riley?"

"Unfortunately, yeah. We're all set in here. Good luck."

Nothing came from Ben for a few minutes after that, though it felt like hours. Riley turned to Alex sitting beside him, looking fidgety with nerves. He nudged her and she turned to face him. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," she said with a small smile. "Just nervous."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Me too."

"Ah hem." Ben cleared his throat, getting their attention. He knew they were sharing a moment. "Miss Gates, Mr. Poole, your concentration here would be most appreciated." Then he said, "alright, I'm in."

"That was fast," noted Riley. "How do you look?"

"Not bad."

"Go get 'em," said Alex.

A few minutes later, another voice joined Ben's over the radio.

"For you."

"Oh, Mr. Brown," said Doctor Chase, surprise clearly evident in her voice.

"Doctor Chase," replied Ben. Riley and Alex exchanged a look.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Rude," mumbled Riley.

"Oh I made a big last-minute donation," Ben explained.

"Oh, I see. And on that subject thank you for your wonderful gift. I really couldn't accept something like that normally but I wanted it," Doctor Chase chuckled.

Riley rolled his eyes. "Okay come on Romeo. Get outta there," Riley prompted him. "You've got a job to do."

However, Doctor Chase wasn't finished. "I am curious though, about the engraving. You know, on the pipe that Big Foot took."

"Hi." There came another voice then, another man.

"Who's the stiff?" asked Riley.

"Shh, stop distracting him," hissed Alex.

"Doctor Herbert this is Mr. Brown."

"Here, let me take this so you can take that off his hands," suggested Ben.

"What?" Riley wondered aloud.

"Drinks?" suggested Alex.

Her assumption was confirmed by Ben's next statement. "A toast, yeah? To high treason." A pause. "Well that is what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had they lost they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and oh, my personal favourite, had their entrails cut out and burned!" He chuckled. "So, here's to the men who did what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right. What they knew was right." He added this last part almost to himself.

"Nicely said," commented Alex. If she had had a glass herself she would have joined in the toast.

There was a gulping noise on the other end of the line so Ben must have taken a large drink. "Well, good night."

A few minutes ticked by with nothing said.

"You okay there Ben?" asked Alex. "Still struck by Doctor Chase?"

"I bet she looked really hot," Riley joined in. "Ben couldn't concentrate."

"I thought you were going to ask her out right then and there," added Alex. The two giggled.

"Can we please save talk of my love life for later," Ben hissed.

"Where are you now?" asked Riley.

"The bathroom. I'm going to try the fingerprints."

"This better work."

There were a few minutes of tense silence. Then Ben gasped. "It's working."

"Unbelievable." Riley shook his head.

"Okay we're in the elevator," Ben said a couple of minutes later. Alex couldn't believe how well this was going.

"Okay, I'm going to turn off the surveillance cameras now," said Riley. "Ready? Five, four, three, two, one, now - Ben Gates, you are now the invisible man."

"Cool," breathed Alex.

"I'm at the computer."

"Okay give me the letters for her password. What have you got for me? Hit me with it," said Riley, fingers poised over the keyboard.

"A-E-F-G-L-O-R-V-Y," Ben recited.

"Okay-" Riley's fingers raced across the keys. "Anagrams being listed. Okay..." He sighed at the long list that appeared. "Top results: A glove fry, A very golf, Fargo levy, gravy floe, valey frog, ago fly rev..." He continued listing off the results, sounding more and more discouraged with each one.

"Wait, wait," cried Ben. "It's 'Valley Forge'. She pressed 'E' and 'L' twice."

Moments later Ben appeared in the security camera footage displayed on Riley's computer. Riley and Alex exchanged an excited high-five.

"We're in," cried Ben, waving to the camera.

Alex waved back even though he couldn't see. "You're doing great Big Brother." She and Riley watched as Ben approached the Declaration and carefully began to unscrew the case.

"Pick it up," Riley said. "You've got about one-" He was cut off then when something really bad happened. Really bad. The computer screen went fuzzy and then went blank altogether.

(Yikes! But we all know what happens next :) thanks so much for reading, hope you're enjoying! Let me know what you think of Alex so far!)