Treasure

Glasses

Once at the Independence Hall, the four followed behind a tour to keep the illusion that it was what they were here for. The tour guide rambled off facts about the building and the history, but Ben led the other three into a side room, over a barrier that said 'no admittance employees only', and up the stairs where they quickly and quietly made their way down the hall, through another door, and into the clock tower.

"Wow..." Y/n whispered, gingerly running her fingers across the white glass of the clock. Ben pushed open a hatch and climbed out of the tower ending up underneath the bell in the tower.

"What bell is this?" asked Riley.

"It's the Centennial Bell. It replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876," explained Ben. He went to the railing and looked out towards a wall opposite of their position, looking at his watch.

"There it is," Abigail said, noting the shadow of the tower upon the bricks below.

"All right. I'm gonna go down there, and you meet me in the signing room. Okay?"

"Okay." Abigail beckoned Riley and Y/n to follow her and started back down into the building.

"We just got up here! Back down again? Ugh!" Y/n complained.

"3:22," Riley began. "My idea."

"Well done, Mr. Poole," Y/n smiled at him before climbing down the ladder. Riley smiled and chuckled to himself, feeling slightly giddy for some reason. Abigail, Riley, and Y/n swiftly headed down the stairs and into the signing room, where they waited for their companion to return. A few minutes later, Ben entered the room, hiding something in his jacket.

"Hey. What'd you score?"

"I found this." Ben held up a pair of spectacles with a few colored lenses over the main ones. They looked really, really old, and were covered in dust. "Some kind of ocular device. 'The vision to see the treasured past'. Let me take this." Ben grabbed the Declaration, handing the spectacles to Riley, who inspected them curiously.

"They're like early American X-ray specs," he said in awe. Y/n chuckled lightly at his child-like wonder and admired them as well.

"Benjamin Franklin invented something like these," noted Abigail.

"Uh," started Ben, removing the Declaration from the canister. "I think he invented these."

"So, what do we do with them?" Riley inquired.

"Probably look through them, Riley," Y/n replied sarcastically.

"Oh ha ha."

"You three work with the map, I'll keep watch," Y/n stated, heading to the doorway and watching the hallway. She heard them whisper behind her, but couldn't make out what they were saying. "Ben, there's another tour coming."

"Thanks Y/n," Ben said, then continued to whisper with the two near him. Y/n fiddled with the hem of her shirt, looking around, acting as if she was admiring the architecture in case someone saw her. She heard rushed noises behind her, but kept still. If she panicked, it would draw attention to them. That's what they DIDN'T want. A hand got pressed to her back below her shoulder blades, and she felt a chill run up her spine.

"We gotta go," Riley mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Y/n asked quietly.

"Ian and his goons. Come on." Riley kept his hand on her back as he directed her out of the building with Abigail right behind them.

"Let's walk this way," Abigail instructed. Riley nodded and led Y/n after her the blonde. He moved his hand from her back to grab hers, which she didn't mind, but this was not the time to focus on that. Y/n kept checking over her shoulder, even as they got into a crowd of people.