TRAVELER

by illminded

A novelization of the TV series , TRAVELER follows two Yale graduates on the run from the U.S. government. Framed by their best friend Will Traveler for the bombing of an art museum, Jay Burchell and Tyler Fog are forced to prove their innocence.

13. Chapter 13: The Crypt

Guest Starring

Frank Mills…………………..Chiwetel Ejiofor

Nicole Rex………………...Rose Byrne

Rosalind Freed………...…...Mary Tyler Moore

Otis Whaley…………………Enrique Mitchell

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Chapter 13: The Crypt

The Polshek Partnership building was hectic with the rabble of police officers strolling about the giant facility. Overhead, the sun was beginning to rise with its rays reflecting off the shiny, yellow caution tape wrapped around the front entrance. Several squad cars with their sirens activated sat parked on the street in front of the building. The two cars Tyler had crashed into the night before were still strewn about the street like rag dolls. A black SUV drove passed the two wrecked squad cars and came to a stop in front of the architecture firm's massive building. All four doors of the SUV swung open as Chambers stepped out with Mills and Rex following behind.

Chambers walked over to the head police officer and introduced himself. Flashing his badge, he recited, "Special Agent-in-Charge Fred Chambers. This is Mills and Rex. We're from the New York Field Office."

"Nice to meet you," the policeman said, shaking Chambers' hand. "I'm Sheriff Burke."

Nodding, Chambers immediately asked, "Any casualties?"

"Nope," Burke replied, shaking his head. "No one was killed, but four of our men and a security guard suffered minor injuries."

"I see," Chambers said as he looked back at the two wrecked cars on the road. "You're sure it was Burchell and Traveler that broke into the building?"

Burke nodded confidently and answered, "We showed the janitor mug shots of your boys. It was definitely them."

"So I'm guessing Fog's the one that caused that," Chambers replied, pointing his thumb back at the damaged squad cars.

Burke nodded and said, "Our forensics guys checked the fingerprints, they matched."

"How'd they break in?"

"They had keys," Burke answered. Chambers turned to him with a mixture of shock and confusion on his face. "Apparently, one of them stole the keys off one of our guards. He reported it and they were supposed to change the locks today. Too late now."

"Was anything stolen?"

"Yeah, schematics to one of the firm's old projects," Burke replied as he led Chambers into the lobby. "They broke into the archives and stole a file folder containing the blueprint to the Yale University Art Gallery."

"The Yale Art Gallery?" Chambers muttered. He put his hands to his waist and wondered, "What would they need a blueprint to the Art Gallery for?"

Burke shrugged and said, "It's all they stole."

Chambers grabbed the walkie-talkie at his side and pressed a button on the side of it. "Mills, this is Chambers. Do you read me?"

"This is Mills," came a staticky voice.

"Our boys stole blueprints to the Yale University Art Gallery."

"What? What for?!"

"Not sure yet, but we know where they're headed. Let's get a team ready and head down there as soon as possible!"

-Newark, New Jersey-

The door to an old, cramped apartment opened as Marlow walked in with several bags of groceries. She kicked the door closed behind her and struggled to turn the lock. Turning it, she walked back to her kitchen and set the grocery bags on the counter. Heading into the living room, she picked up the remote control and turned the TV on to the news. Setting the remote back down, she strode back to the kitchen to put away her groceries. As she stuck a carton of milk into the refrigerator, something on the news caught her ears. Her eyes widening, she hurried back to the living room and stood in front of the TV, her arms crossed over her chest.

There was a woman standing in front of the Polshek Partnership building in Virginia with a microphone to her lips. Behind her, several police men and women were walking about. Staring into the camera, she pronounced, "There was a break-in here at the Polshek Partnership Architecture Firm's main building. Sources close to the site confirm that the perpetrators were indeed the suspects of the Drexler Bombing, Jay Burchell, Tyler Fog, and Will Traveler."

Marlow's eyes got even wider and she reached for the remote to turn up the volume.

"We have Special Agent-in-Charge Fred Chambers with us to give you more details," the woman said. The cameraman focused in on Chambers who stood beside the newscaster. She lifted the microphone up to his mouth, signaling for him to start talking. "What more can you tell us about what has transpired here?"

"You pretty much have the gist of what occurred last night," Chambers said. "The only other thing I can tell you is that we know our suspects are headed to New Haven, Connecticut, specifically Yale University's Art Gallery. We want everyone out there watching this right now to please be on the lookout for these boys. We are doing our best to apprehend them, but we need your help as well. Please, if anyone sights any of these three then call the FBI hotline."

A sigh escaped Marlow's lips as she turned the TV off. Walking back into the kitchen, she grabbed her car keys and stepped into her shoes. Taking one look back at her apartment, she slammed the door closed behind her as she clamored down the stairs.

-Upper East Side, Manhattan-

Unlocking the front door of his penthouse apartment, Gabriel pushed the door open and strode inside. He closed the door behind him as he started to take off his jacket. Tossing the jacket onto the arms of a chair, he headed down the hall into his bedroom. As he unbuttoned his dress shirt, he cracked the kinks out of his neck. Suddenly, he stopped as he saw a figure standing inside his bedroom. Quietly stepping back, he slipped into the bathroom and grabbed a hand towel from the rack. Stretching the towel out, he crept towards his bedroom and looked back inside.

There was a man inside he'd never seen before. He appeared to be looking at the picture of Gabriel and his family that sat atop the bedside drawer. Sneakily, Gabriel entered the room and crept behind the man. Bringing the hand towel over the man's head, he quickly brought it back down and pulled back in an attempt to choke the man. Before he could wrap the towel completely around the man's neck, though, the man slipped his hand in between the towel and his neck and tried to fend off Gabriel. Gabriel pulled tightly with the towel and kicked the man in the back of his knee.

The man almost dropped to the ground, but he managed to overpower Gabriel and throw him over his head. Gabriel crashed into the wall and the man grabbed the towel from his neck and tossed it aside. Gabriel climbed back up to his feet and stared into Otis Whaley's empty eyes. Squaring up, Gabriel threw a right hook, but Whaley blocked with his left forearm and threw a punch at Gabriel's face. Gabriel blocked the hit and kicked Whaley away. As Whaley staggered backwards, Gabriel lunged at him with two jabs to the face. Whaley's head flew backwards and Gabriel grabbed his right arm. Pulling Whaley towards him, Gabriel struck him in the chest with his elbow. Whaley tried to fight back, but Gabriel blocked with his other arm and headbutted him in the forehead.

Whaley fell to the ground as Gabriel lunged at him with a kick. However, Whaley rolled out of the way and hopped back onto his feet. Smirking, he threw a punch at Gabriel. Gabriel ducked and threw an uppercut, but Whaley dodged the hit and grabbed Gabriel's arm. Locking Gabriel's arm around his own, Whaley thrust his elbow into Gabriel's chest several times. With all his strength, Whaley lifted Gabriel up off his feet and threw him onto the ground. Gabriel's body landed on the floor with a hard thud and Whaley lifted his foot up to slam it back down on Gabriel's chest. Spit flew out of Gabriel's mouth as Whaley's heavy boot fell upon his chest.

Madly gritting his teeth, Gabriel grabbed Whaley's foot and twisted it, forcing Whaley to stagger and fall to the ground. Standing back up, Gabriel kicked Whaley twice in the side. He rolled Whaley over with his foot and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. Whaley tried to headbutt him, but Gabriel grabbed him by the head and tossed his body against the wall. Whaley fell back onto the floor and Gabriel once again lifted him up. Pinning Whaley to the wall with his left forearm, Gabriel reached for the gun at his side and pressed it against Whaley's neck.

"Who are you?!" Gabriel demanded to know. Whaley smirked at Gabriel and tried to push him away. "Tell me who you are!"

"I work for the same people your father's working with!" Whaley revealed. "Let me go! I'm here to help you!"

Gabriel let go of Whaley, but kept his Colt trained on him. Whaley brushed his jacket and raised his hands up in surrender. "What's your name?"

"The people your father works with sent me here to help you."

"I don't need any help," Gabriel grunted.

"Considering Traveler and his friends are still alive and kickin', it seems you do!" Whaley fired back. Grabbing the barrel of Gabriel's gun, he said, "Now, put the gun down so we can talk like men."

Gabriel glared at Whaley and brought the gun down. Flipping the safety back on, he stuck it back into the holster and asked, "What makes you think you can help me find them?"

"First off, I already know where they are," Whaley muttered.

"What?"

"If you just used the resources already provided to you, maybe you would've had an easier time hunting them down," Whaley arrogantly taunted. Smirking, he brushed passed Gabriel and said, "They're on the way to New Haven."

-Somewhere in Pennsylvania-

A flock of crows flew across the sun-filled sky above a roadside diner. There were several trucks parked off to the side with a few vehicles parked in front of the diner. Among the cars parked out front was the green Taurus Will, Jay, and Tyler had hot wired the night before. Sitting in a booth inside the diner were the three boys with plates of food in front of them.

Jay stabbed a piece of ham with his fork and began cutting at it with his knife while Tyler bit into a piece of buttered toast. Next to Tyler, Will scooped some scrambled eggs up with his fork and shoved it into his mouth. The boys' backpacks sat at their feet, ready to go just in case they were spotted. Jay swallowed the ham and grabbed his glass of orange juice to take a drink.

"How long till we get to New Haven?" Tyler asked as he bit one end of a sausage.

Will pushed his sleeve away from his wrist and looked at his black wristwatch. "It's eight-thirty so that means we'll be in New Haven by twelve-thirty or one."

"What are we gonna do about security?" Jay wanted to know. "After last night, I'm bettin' they already know we're headed to New Haven."

"That's what I'm worried about. The place is gonna be crawling with Feds and police by the time we get there," Will said, drinking his juice.

As Tyler bit into a crispy strip of bacon, his eyes brightened and he looked over at Jay. Tapping his finger on the table before Jay, he asked, "You remember those steam pipes we used to get outta the library?"

"Yeah. What about 'em?" Jay asked.

"How far do you think they run underground?"

"What? You mean the steam tunnels under Yale?" Will questioned. Tyler turned to Will and nodded. "Those tunnels run all throughout the campus." Facing Jay, he added, "Wait. Do you know how to get around there?"

Jay nodded vigorously and started to smile. "Yeah, I used to use them all the time." Will smiled proudly, surprised Tyler had come up with another good idea. "Hold on, I only know how to get into the library. I don't think I can get us all the way to the Art Gallery and into the Trumbull section."

Lifting up one of the schematics, Will smirked at Jay and said, "Good thing we have a map then."

-Manhattan, NY-

Dozens of people crowded around a green and white house in Manhattan. All the men, women, and children were dressed in black clothes. A woman sat in the corner crying while her husband embraced her closely. A teenage boy with dark brown hair stood next to them with a somber expression on her face. Allison, dressed in a black shirt and blouse, walked over to them.

"I'm sorry about Jack," she muttered morosely. The color in her face was gone; it looked like she was the one who died. "I-I…"

"It's okay, honey," the husband told her. He caressed Allison's right shoulder and smiled glumly at her.

A tear started down Allison's cheek as she looked up at the man and touched his old, wrinkly hand. Biting her lower lip to stop herself from bawling, she nodded at the man and walked away. Across the room stood a short, young man with messy, dark brown hair and stubble around his chin. He wore a black jacket over a white dress shirt and black slacks. Noticing Allison coming towards him, he looked up and smiled wryly at her.

"Hey. How are you?" he greeted her.

"Not so good," Allison said as she leaned her back against the wall beside the man. "What about you?"

Shaking his head, the young man sighed, "Same. I can't believe he's gone."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Allison looked over at the mahogany casket sitting in the middle of the room and asked, "What happened? Someone just came in and shot him?"

"Police say it was a robbery. They broke into our apartment and I guess Jack came in at the wrong time."

Nodding, Allison asked, "What'd they take?"

"Um… some old paintings, a stereo, and our TV," the young man answered. "Who the hell would kill someone over that stuff?"

Allison put her hand on the young man's shoulder and muttered, "Not everyone's a good person out there."

The young man took a deep breath and put his head back against the wall. "Did you look at him yet?" he asked.

"Not yet," Allison timidly replied.

Turning away from her friend, she slowly strode across the floor over to the casket. Clenching her teeth, she reached the casket and sluggishly leaned over. Jack's body lay inside the casket dressed in a nice black suit. His arms were folded over his chest and a peaceful look was plastered on his face. Allison bit her lower lip again and tried to turn away. No matter how hard her body shook, though, she couldn't bring herself to look away from him. She couldn't help, but feel guilty and suspicious that he was killed because of her.

"This stuff you got me into, Ally – it seems pretty deep, pretty dangerous," Allison could hear him warning her.

"Don't worry, Jack. No one's going to find out," Allison remembered promising him.

As she remembered her words, tears began to stream down her face and she felt her knees begin to buckle. A weary groan escaped her lips as she held onto the edge of the casket for dear life. The young man she was speaking with earlier walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder. Still crying, she lay her face into his chest and walked away from the casket with him.

-New Haven, CT-

Scattered throughout the town of New Haven were several FBI agents brought down by Agent Chambers from New York. Many of them were walking around Yale's campus with stacks of fliers in their hands. Printed on the fliers were the mug shots of Jay Burchell, Tyler Fog, and Will Traveler. A blonde FBI agent handed three fliers to a trio of students walking passed him on campus. The three students glanced down at the fliers as they walked off. In the center of Yale's campus stood Agents Chambers, Mills, and Rex.

Mills and Rex both had fliers with them that they handed out to anybody passing by. Chambers seemed to be the only one without his own stack to pass out. As Mills handed a flier to a young man walking through, he looked up at Chambers and asked, "We know yet why they needed blueprints to the Art Gallery?"

Chambers shook his head and said, "Doesn't match up. I don't see why they'd risk all this just to get into some Art Gallery."

"You think there's something in there that they need?" Mills suggested.

"Or maybe they're planning on setting off a bomb," Rex added. She handed two fliers out to two students passing by and continued, "We found napalm on some of their items, meaning they could possibly have a bomb with them. They blew up one art museum, maybe they're here to do it again."

"Yeah, but why the blueprints?" Mills questioned. He appeared irritated and impatient. "Why would they risk their lives to steal blueprints to an art gallery?! If they really are planning on blowing the place up, they could just walk in there."

"Security's surrounding the place twenty-four-seven!" Rex retorted. "Maybe they needed the blueprints to find another way in."

"No, they lived here for two years. Came to this place nearly every day," Chambers said, shaking his head. "They need those blueprints for something else."

"Then what do we do?" Mills asked.

"Let the other agents and policemen pass out these fliers. Mills, get local PD on the phone and have them set up checkpoints around the city. I want you to supervise the one closest to here. Rex, I want you to go to the cross-campus library. Look through all their documents and articles. I wanna know why these guys are coming here. We know the why, we'll figure out the where!" Chambers instructed. Raising his eyebrows, he chanted, "Anyone has any clue of where these guys are, I want to be alerted immediately, understand?"

Mills and Rex both nodded. Mills complacently stated, "Crystal clear, sir." Meanwhile, Rex stood off to the side, facing away from Chambers. Out of the corner of her eye, she suspiciously watched Chambers walk off, his hands at his sides.

-Somewhere in New York-

Gabriel's Lexus sped down a highway along with several other cars as he and Whaley headed towards New Haven. Steering the wheel, Gabriel cautiously eyed Whaley beside him. Whaley noticed and turned to him. Gabriel quickly turned away, though, and continued driving.

-Massachusetts – Fourteen Years Ago-

At the age of eleven, Gabriel was a rather short boy. He stood at about four-foot-nine and had short, curly brown hair that was matted down by the bright red hat he wore. Clumsily holding a hunting rifle in his arms, he wadded through the tall grass in the woods. Dressed in a black sweater, red vest, and jeans, he listened closely for the sounds of deer in the area. He heard one a few yards away and fired into the woods. A flock of crows flapped their wings wildly as they crossed the line of trees.

"Watch your shot! You want it to count!" Carlton Fog said from afar. He came out of the bushes in the woods behind Gabriel with his own rifle. Lifting the rifle up, he took aim and readied his shot. As a deer shot through the trees, he fired, but missed.

"C'mon, Dad, can we just go?" someone said from behind. Carlton and Gabriel turned to see Tyler walking towards them with his rifle pointed at the ground. He ripped the orange hat from his messy hair and ran his fingers through it. "We haven't hit anything and we've been here for like two hours."

"Hunting requires patience, cunning, and skill, Tyler," Carlton told his son.

"So?" Tyler shrugged. Compared to Gabriel, Tyler was quite tall. He was around five-foot-four. Gabriel looked up at Tyler with admiring eyes as he and his dad argued.

"I'm trying to teach you something here, son," Carlton sighed.

"And what would that be?" Tyler asked, raising his rifle up. Without even looking for something to shoot, Tyler hastily pulled the trigger, firing a bullet into a tree.

"It's a tough world out there, son," Carlton warned. He looked over at Gabriel and pulled him closer. "Both of you need to learn this: when you grow up, you're not going to have anyone to depend on, no one to buy you stuff, cook you dinner, make your beds; you're going to have to make decisions that'll greatly affect your lives and the lives of others around you."

"But that's not for a long time, right?" Gabriel asked.

Carlton smiled at his son and patted him on the back. "Not for a long, long time, son."

-----

"What's in New Haven?" Gabriel wanted to know, turning back to Whaley.

"Our targets," Whaley replied coldly. His eyes remained fixated on the sweeping highway.

"No, I mean why are they there for?" Gabriel asked as he looked back at the road.

Whaley glowered at Gabriel and asked, "Why does it matter? Our job is to terminate your brother and his friends. We don't need to be asking questions."

"I'm just trying to understand what's going on," Gabriel replied, rubbing his chin with his free hand.

"All you need to know is that your family is in some big, big trouble and you could be able to save them if you do your job," Whaley said in a threatening matter. He looked at Gabriel sternly and asked, "Got it?"

Gabriel turned to Whaley with a grimace and nodded. "Yeah, I got it," he sighed.

-Somewhere in Pennsylvania-

The sound of rock music seamlessly streamed into the cabin of the green Ford Taurus as Will sped down the grassy highway. It felt like it had been so long since any of the three boys could afford to kick back and listen to music. It seemed almost peaceful. Jay rested his elbow against the open window of the car and looked out at the passing grassy valleys while Tyler lay back in his seat with the wind coming in from Jay's window blasting his hair back. The wind felt warm and cool at the same time; Tyler smiled faintly in the backseat.

In the driver's seat, Will rested his left elbow against his window while he held the steering wheel with his right hand. He sighed as he kept his tired eyes on the long stretch of road before him. Suddenly, he jolted up in his seat as the sound of a police siren going off alerted him. Bringing his eyes up to his rearview mirror, he saw a white squad car trailing behind their Taurus.

As soon as he heard the siren go off, Tyler spun around. Staring out the back window, he saw the two policemen in the car behind them motioning for them to pull over. He immediately turned to Will, grabbed his shoulder, and ordered, "Don't you dare slow down, Will!"

Will turned to his side mirror and watched as the squad car got closer and closer to their bumper. Turning to Tyler, he said, "I have to. It'll be more suspicious if I just kept going."

"They're cops, Will! They know who we are!" Tyler retorted.

"You don't know that!" Will shouted back. "Just keep calm and stay quiet. Let me handle this!"

Gradually slowing down, Will pulled over to the shoulder of the road and put the car in Park. Lifting the emergency brake lever up, he watched the man in the passenger seat exit the squad car. The police officer walked right up to the driver's side and leaned into the car through the open window. He took a look at all three boys who did their best to appear innocent and inconspicuous.

"You know how fast you boys were goin'?" the officer asked.

"No, sir," Will replied. "Were we over the speed limit?"

"Yeah, you were," the policeman said, nodding his head. "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to give you a ticket." Will nodded in response. "Please give me your license and registration."

Will gulped as he realized the registration in the car didn't match up with his license. Nevertheless, he reached over Jay and popped open the glove compartment. He pulled out the registration papers and reached into his back pocket for his wallet. Setting the registration papers on his lap, he opened his wallet and drew out a driver's license with the name Jonas Wells on it. He handed the license and registration over to the policeman and quietly sat back.

"Thank you," the policeman muttered as he took the paper and card from Will. He looked at Will's face and matched it up to the image on the license. Nodding to himself, he unfolded the yellow registration papers and searched for the name. As he read the name on the top left corner, he seemed to be taken aback. His brow furrowed and his lips pursed. He quickly turned to Will and asked, "Sir, please get out of the vehicle. Your friends as well."

"Something wrong, Officer?" Will asked, squinting his eyes up at the policeman as the sun blinded him.

"The name on this registration doesn't match your license," the officer informed him. "Please step out of the car."

"It's my uncle's car. He just loaned it to me and my friends for the day," Will lied.

"Even so, I'm gonna have to ask you to get out of the vehicle," the policeman said. He put his hand on the handle of his pistol and looked Will in the eyes.

Will nodded and unlocked the doors. He turned to Jay with a stern look then grabbed the handle on the door. Opening the door up, he slammed it into the side of the policeman, forcing him to shoot headfirst through the car window. As the policeman's upper body flew into the car, Will grabbed his hands and locked them together. The policeman tried to wriggle away, but Will punched the side of his head hard into the center of the steering wheel. The car let out a loud, irritating honk as the officer in the squad car opened his door. Before he could even reach for his pistol, Will threw the driver side door open and stepped outside. Swiftly, he raised the USP in his holster up at the police officer creeping up from behind. Caught off guard, the young policeman raised his arms up in surrender.

"Please, don't shoot," the policeman muttered.

"Get on the ground," Will ordered. The policeman looked at him with a wondrous look, but obeyed anyways. As he laid facedown on the road, Will hurried back into the Taurus. Shifting back to Drive, he sped away from the squad car as fast as possible.

-Manhattan, NY-

Allison stood at a waiting platform at Grand Central Terminal awaiting a train. The color in her beautiful face was drained and she looked ghastly and morose as she waited for the oncoming train. She wore a tan tank top under a black track jacket and blue jeans. Slung over her shoulder was her trusty black backpack, which held several of her belongings. In her hand was a train ticket heading to New Haven, Connecticut. There were hundreds of other people waiting alongside Allison. Sitting behind her on a bench was a mother and father and their son who was playing with a toy airplane. To her left was a man in a business suit with a large bag sitting at his feet. Allison listened to the trains skidding by along the rails as she waited for the New Haven Line.

Checking the time on her black wristwatch, Allison's eye was caught by the TV attached to one of the pillars on the concourse. She looked over at it to see the news flashing up photos of Will, Jay, and Tyler. Looking away from the TV, Allison heard a man announcing something over the intercom.

"New Haven Line now arriving at Lower Concourse. New Haven Line now arriving at Lower Concourse," the man sang.

Turning to look at the train arriving near the platform, Allison headed over towards it. The train came to a stop right in front of her and the door slid open with a whooshing sound. Allison stepped into the train and found somewhere to sit. The family that was behind her at the concourse passed by her on their way to the back of the train. Allison smiled up at them as they passed by her. Sighing, she sat back and rested the back of her head against the headrest.

As she quietly sat in her seat, her mind continuously drifted back to the image of Jack lying in his casket. It took all of her strength to stop her from crying once again. Allison took one deep breath and closed her eyes as she felt someone take the seat next to her.

"Scared of riding the train?" the old man asked, smiling at her.

Allison chuckled and smiled back at the kind, old man. "Sort of," she said.

"Trust me," the man started, "it gets easier."

Allison furrowed her brow in confusion at the man. She asked, "What do you mean?"

"The train – the first time it gets movin' is the scariest," he replied, chuckling at himself. Shaking his head, he continued, "The rest of the ride's nothin'."

Allison nodded and smiled at the man as she lay her head back against the soft cushion. Two minutes later, the train started to move again. Allison listened to the rolling, rumbling sound of the train's wheel riding the rails. The grinding sound filled her ears as the train chugged through a black tunnel on its way to New Haven.

-Washington, DC-

The Freed estate was a large, rambling piece of land with an entrenched garden and a giant pool to one side. The massive lawn spanned from the front of the mansion all the way to the gated entrance. A path was carved into the ground, dividing the lawn up into two. In front of the mansion was a stone fountain of several angels spurting out water. The front door of the mansion was made of oak and carved into with beautiful designs. The white paint looked new and the windows were clearer than crystals. Pristine white drapes covered the windows, preventing the bright sun from shining in.

Inside one of the rooms of the house, the old, blonde woman stood at the doorway. Across from her, standing in the corner looking out the window was a tall, well-dressed man. His face was shrouded in the shadows of the corner as he turned to the blonde woman. He was wearing a solid black suit with a shiny red tie. There were gold cufflinks around the cuffs of his jacket.

"How are you, Rosalind?" the man asked.

"I'm okay," the woman, Rosalind, answered.

"No more hospital visits I hope," the man said.

"None at all. I'm in fine health now."

"Let's hope it stays that way," the man sighed as he turned back to the curtained window. "How is it going with Burchell, Fog, and Traveler? I hear they're on their way to New Haven."

"Yes, I've sent my man on it. He's taking Carlton Fog's son and heading straight to New Haven," Rosalind replied.

Nodding, the man asked, "You know what's in New Haven, right?"

"Of course I do," Rosalind answered. "Don't worry. Whaley and Fog will do their job. The journal will remain untouched."

The man sighed and tapped his fingers against the window frame. "Like I said before, we should have just had the place razed. We should have destroyed everything."

"We didn't think they'd find it. You know what that means, don't you?"

"Someone's turned," the man cryptically replied. "Do you know who it was?"

Rosalind shook her head and said, "It could be anyone. We've been split off for so long, I've forgotten who's on which side." She chuckled a little and shook her head again.

"If they get their hands on the journal, everything must be destroyed," the man warned.

"That's not your call to make," Rosalind retorted. "I am the one behind the wheel here. Or have you forgotten that?"

The man shook his head and replied, "No, I haven't forgotten."

"I think it's time you made your exit," Rosalind suggested. She held the door open for the man and added, "I have other, more important business to attend to."

The man in the corner nodded and headed for the door as Rosalind stood at the doorway with a cold expression on his face.

-Somewhere in Pennsylvania-

"We need to start being more careful," Jay warned his friends. "Just 'cause we're trying to get to New Haven as fast as possible doesn't mean we have to speed through every street and highway."

"I said I was sorry alright?" Will replied. "I made a mistake. What else do you want from me?"

"I don't know, Will, maybe to be more cautious next time. A strike on our records isn't the only thing at stake now," Jay told him.

"I know that!" Will retorted as he snapped his head at Jay.

In the backseat, Tyler nervously stared out the back window. Gulping, he said, "Maybe we should start taking some back roads. There's less cops around there."

"Yeah but it'll take longer," Will said. "Besides, there aren't any other cars around. We have the entire highway to ourselves."

"Still, I'd feel much safer taking the back roads."

"It's too late for that now," Will replied. Motioning his head back towards the map in the backseat next to Tyler, he continued, "Look at the map, there aren't any entrances to back roads for miles. We're stuck on this highway and the rest till we reach Jersey."

Tyler sighed and muttered, "Fine. Can we just hurry at least?"

-New Haven, CT-

The Art Gallery at Yale University was a gigantic gallery committed to all forms of art, from sculptures to paintings. It was divided into four different buildings. The north gallery was devoted specifically to John Trumbull, the great American painter who painted the Declaration of Independence. Many of his works were on display here. The one that stood out the most was a copy of the Declaration of Independence that was pinned to a stone wall with an engraving on a gold plaque underneath it.

The exterior of the Art Gallery was surrounded by sidewalks and a small park off to the side where a few people sat. The entrance to the building consisted of a glass wall with automatic sliding doors that led in and out of the Art Gallery. Parked outside the entrance were several cars, many of them belonging to the FBI. Standing right outside the gallery's entrance was a group of six FBI agents scouting the area for Burchell, Fog, and Traveler.

Across the street, sitting inside a white sedan with tinted windows was Jan Marlow. She was dressed in a blue shirt with a brown jacket over it. She also sported a dark brown hat and kept her hair tied back into a ponytail. Her eyes stared outside the window at the entrance of the Art Gallery. There were already dozens of FBI agents standing around the area. Surely, she'd need to be smart and lucky to find a way inside the Gallery without notifying the agents of her presence. With a determined look on her face, Marlow patiently stared out the tinted window.

-----

Across campus, Agent Rex carried an old, bound document over to one of the metal tables in the back of the library. There was another male agent sitting on the other side of the table with a stack of papers in front of him. Rex dropped the large book on the table and wiped the dust from her hands.

"What is that?!" the agent asked with wide eyes.

"It's a collection of documents dating back to when the Art Gallery was first built," Rex answered, smiling victoriously. "Everything about the Gallery is in these pages."

"Good luck finding anything in there," her fellow agent replied with a shrug. He picked up a couple pieces of paper put together with a staple. He flipped to the second page and set it down in front of him to read.

"Just wait," Rex said. She flipped open the large cover and sighed elatedly. "We'll find something."

-----

Chambers sat at a lone bench on Yale's campus. With the phone to his ear, he listened to the person on the other end. There was an exhausted, almost frightened expression on his face as he listened to the person talk.

"We're going to need to have a talk with Allison, Chambers," the woman on the other end said.

"I told you I'd handle it!" Chambers replied impatiently.

"You haven't handled anything! We know she's still alive! She knows something is up, Chambers!"

"No. No, she doesn't," Chambers retorted. "I'm telling you, she hasn't found anything out."

"She knows who Traveler is. That's enough to permit her termination," the woman replied angrily.

"Please, just let me talk to her. I promise you, I will get her to drop it."

"You've made promises before Chambers," the woman said. "I don't remember them being kept."

"Please, I will find out what she has and I'll take care of it," Chambers pleaded. "Please, just let me do this. I can't let her get hurt."

"Then you should have been watching over her from the very beginning," the woman taunted. Sternly, she added, "Chambers, I know you love her. Don't let the same thing that happened to your wife happen to her."

It looked as if Chambers stopped breathing for a moment. He sat silently holding the phone. The woman on the other line called his name a few times, but he didn't answer.

"We're going to have to take care of your wife," he heard a man say to him.

"What?! What happened?"

"She knows what's going on, Chambers," the man said. Flashes of a beautiful, brown-haired woman appeared in Chambers' head. He tried to shake them out, but he kept hearing the man's voice. "We'll call you when it's done."

"No," he could hear himself begging. "Wait! No!"

"Either we can do it or you can," the man whispered. "Make your choice."

-Palestine – Fifteen Years Ago-

Dressed in camo fatigues, Chambers stood in a lone hallway in a Palestinian prison. The glassless windows on the right side of the hallway permitted streaks of sunlight to pervade the shadowy hallway. The two men's shadows were pasted against the stained, yellow, tiled floor. There was no one else there save for the man standing before him. Chambers wore a fearful look on his face as he grabbed at his jaw with his coarse fingers.

Nodding, he gulped and stuttered, "I-I'll do it. I'll take care of it…"

The man before him nodded and handed him a gun using a white handkerchief to hold it. "Dispose of it once you're finished. I'll have you sent back home tomorrow to do the job."

Chambers nodded back and grabbed the gun. The man patted him on the back and headed down the other end of the hallway. Breathing heavily, Chambers stared down at the gun in his hand and leaned against the stone cold wall of the prison. Gulping, he shoved the gun into one of his holsters and wiped the tears coming down his eyes before turning around and stomping down the other end of the hallway.

-----

"Chambers! Are you there?!" the woman screamed.

Snapping out of his trance, Chambers looked around and wheezed, "Yes. I'm here."

"So, what do you want to do then?" the woman asked. "It's up to you?"

Gaping down at the ground, Chambers nodded and said, "I'll do it. I'll do it."

"Understood. Call back when it's done."

Chambers hung up the phone and stuck it back into his pocket. Sighing exhaustedly, he hung his head back and looked up at the bright, blue sky. A lone bird swam through the sea of clouds as Chambers turned his head at the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Sir, I think we might have something else on the boys," an agent notified him.

Chambers quickly jumped to his feet and asked, "What is it?"

"Around the same time the Polshek building was broken into, a man reported his car being stolen. A green Ford Taurus, license plate: APG-649," the agent read off. In his hand was a scrap of paper with the license plate number scribbled messily onto it.

"Have the other agents been notified?" Chambers asked.

"No, not yet, sir."

"Notify all the agents and the police," Chambers instructed. "Have them put out an APB on that vehicle! If it even comes near this city, stop it!"

-----

"Welcome to New Haven," Tyler muttered as the green Taurus passed by the welcome sign of the city. They'd been driving for quite some time now. They switched positions several miles back; Tyler now drove while Will sat in the back.

The boys were driving down a crowded highway. All three friends turned and looked at the New Haven sign they had been greeted by years ago. A faint smile appeared on their faces as they returned home. Tyler switched lanes to get closer to the exit as the view of the familiar city skyline got clearer and clearer.

-New Haven, CT – Two Years Ago-

The rumble of the grinding train tracks underneath his feet kept Will Traveler wide awake. He sat with his shoulder leaned up against the window to his right as he watched the scenery pass by. Wearing a black jacket, Chicago Cubs shirt, and blue jeans, Will sat idly watching the digital clock down the aisle flicker every now and then. The small foursome of seats he sat in was unoccupied save for his own. The window to his right displayed the cozy countryside of Connecticut changing into a vast metropolis of various structures and shapes. Will's eyes gazed up at the tall buildings speeding passed him.

Suddenly, he felt a buzzing in his pant pocket. Reaching into it, he pulled out a black cellphone and held it up to his ear. "Hello?" he said.

"How are things going…Will?" a familiar voice asked.

"Everything's fine, Jacob. You don't need to check on me every hour," Will replied, seemingly annoyed.

"I'm just looking out for you, Will," Jacob excused himself. "Are you at the house yet?"

"No, not yet. I'm still on the train. There was a mechanical problem. We had to take a short stop an hour ago," Will answered. Looking back out the window, he added, "We're in New Haven now, though."

"Good. Good. You remember the plan, right?"

"Of course I do," Will replied as if it was absurd he'd forget the plan. The train passed under a bridge, encompassing the cabins with darkness. Will closed his eyes and recited robotically, "Break into their circle of trust, get some videos of 'em, and get out."

"Precisely," Jacob said with an air of pride and satisfaction. He paused for a second then changed into a stern, gruff tone. "Will, just a warning: don't get too close to these guys. You're just going to get hurt."

"I know better than that, Jacob," Will sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm just making sure. After that fiasco in D.C. – "

"That was different!" Will said angrily. He popped up from his laid-back position in the seat and stared at the empty seat before him.

"I know, Will. I know. I'm just looking out for you."

"Whatever," Will retorted. Leaning back into his seat, he continued, "They won't be a problem, trust me. I won't let things get personal. Not again."

-----

Agent Mills rode shotgun inside a black SUV driving down the narrow street. There were two squad cars with them; one up front and one behind. They both had their sirens whirring as they shot through the street. As Mills stared out the window, he heard a beeping inside his pocket.

"Agent Mills," he recited.

"Agent Mills, this is an update from base. We have new information regarding the suspects," a man said.

"Alright. Out with it," Mills impatiently demanded.

"We believe they have stolen a green Ford Taurus, license plate: APG-649."

"APG-649. I got it. Have the police been notified?" Mills asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Alright. I'll see you later, base," Mills said before hanging up the cellphone. Turning to the man driving the SUV, he told him, "They're traveling in a green Ford Taurus, license plate: APG-649. That shouldn't be too hard to find, would it?"

"Don't think so," the agent replied, shaking his head.

Suddenly, a Taurus matching the description drove by. Stunned, Mills turned around quickly and stared at the license plate of the car. It read: GFU-109. Shaking his head, he chuckled to himself and sunk back into the passenger seat.

-----

Union Station was a bustling railroad station with many passengers waiting to board trains. The platforms were crowded with people standing around either waiting for trains or searching for busses or taxis to hitch rides in. Standing by herself on one of the platforms was Allison. She stuffed her left hand into the pocket of her white jean jacket and stuck her right hand out to call for a taxi cab. A yellow cab drove by less than thirty seconds later and came to a stop in front of her.

She quickly ran up to the side of the taxi and opened the back passenger door as the driver stepped out of the car. He smiled at her and offered to take her backpack, but she shook her head at him. Nodding back at her, the driver got back into his cab. Allison stepped inside the cab and strapped her seatbelt on.

"Where to, Miss?" the driver asked with a hospitable smile.

"Yale Art Gallery, please," Allison instructed. The driver nodded and turned his turn signal on as he reentered traffic.

In the back seat, Allison anxiously bit her lower lip as she looked at the sweeping buildings surrounding her. Sighing, she laid her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.

-Staten Island, NY – Fifteen Years Ago-

The pouring rain pelted the top of Allison's head as she stood in the middle of a large, grassy field at a cemetery. There were dozens of people dressed in black surrounding her, but several of them were already on the move. Some brushed passed her unknowingly while others stopped to console and hug her. Dressed in a black dress, Allison stared at the tombstone before her. She was only eleven, but the concept of death wasn't new to her. She'd known about death since she was a little girl; she was always curious and liked knowing things after all. However, she'd never experienced it before. Her tiny body trembled as she stared at the unsightly beautiful tombstone.

As her tears mixed with rain, she felt a comforting hand grasp her delicate shoulder. Sniffing and looking up, she felt the rain stop and saw her father holding an umbrella up to him. He looked so handsome in his nice black suit even though he had a sorrowful and serious look on his face. Managing to smile, Chambers held Allison close to him and rubbed her right shoulder.

"Why did Mommy have to die, Daddy?" Allison meekly wondered.

Chambers stared at the tombstone of his deceased wife and held back the tears. With shaking lips, he looked back down at Allison and said, "God needed someone to keep him company."

"But why couldn't he take somebody else?"

Chambers shook his head and replied, "I don't know, honey. It's just the way it is."

Allison sniffed again and slowly walked up to her mother's grave. She put her hand on top of it and caressed the carved name. "I miss her," she mumbled.

Walking up to his daughter, Chambers held his hand up to his mouth, but removed it to say, "I do too."

The anguished look on Chambers' face changed into a surprised one as Allison turned and hugged him tightly around his waist. She brushed her wet face against his jacket and held on firmly. Chambers looked up at the black fabric of his umbrella and put his hand on the back of Allison's head. A tear slowly streamed out his eye and ran down the side of his face.

"I love you, honey," Chambers grunted.

"I love you too, Daddy."

-----

As the yellow taxi cab came to a stop in front of a red light, Allison looked down at the black backpack on her lap. Placing a shaking hand on top of it, she pursed her lips and bit her teeth together as the car started moving again a second later.

-----

The road was beginning to narrow as less and less cars drove up around them. Tyler moved to the side of the road and parked the car beside a thicket of trees and bushes. Turning off the car's headlights, he unlocked all doors and stepped outside. Jay stretched his legs out as he stepped out the car. Behind him, Will slammed the door close and looked around. There appeared to be no cars or people around. Looking up, he noticed the sun was starting to set.

"We go through here and move straight," Jay said, pointing through the woods. "We'll hit the steam pipes in about ten minutes."

"Alright," Will sighed, "Let's move."

The three boys took one last glance around them before darting into the thick woods in front of them. Pushing aside a large tree branch, Jay weaved around it as Will ducked underneath it. Tyler followed the two down a small hump in the ground and around several thick trees. Within ten minutes, they reached the steam pipes Jay had accustomed himself with during his stay at Yale.

Will and Tyler stood over the grating leading down into the tunnels as Jay bent over with an army knife Will had handed him. He popped open the grating and lifted it up from the ground. Grabbing onto the sides, Jay jumped down into the tunnels with Will and Tyler right behind him.

"So how did you find this place exactly?" Will asked as he looked around the tunnels.

"Studying," Jay replied complacently.

"Studying?" Will repeated. He turned the corner along with Jay and Tyler and muttered, "You sure didn't want to fail that class."

Jay chuckled at Will and shook his head. He led his two friends down a narrower tunnel and ended up at an intersection. Pointing down one tunnel, he noted, "That way leads to the library."

"Art Gallery's to the east," Tyler informed him.

"So we go this way," Jay said, pointing down the right tunnel.

As the three boys stalked through the dim tunnels, streams of steam shot out at them, clouding their faces. The boys covered their mouths and squinted their eyes as they rushed through the tunnels and turned the corner.

"That never happened," Jay coughed as he walked down the next tunnel.

"How far away is the gallery from here?" Tyler asked.

"Not sure," Will replied. "Used to take me about ten-twelve minutes when I crossed campus. But we gotta move around these tunnels so it might take a while longer."

"And we have to make sure we don't get lost either," Jay interjected. "I'm not exactly a mouse, y'know."

The three boys reached another four-way intersection and looked down their three options. "Which way?" Jay asked.

"I say we go straight," Tyler answered.

"Yeah," Will replied. "We don't wanna risk going down either of the other tunnels. They might not turn towards the gallery."

"Alright," Jay shrugged as he led his friends into the next tunnel.

-----

"Are you sure this is it?" Tyler asked as he leaned over Jay's shoulder to look at the blueprint.

Jay pointed his finger at one point of the blueprint and followed the steam pipes drawn on it. He then pointed up at the pipes in the corner and turned to Tyler. "They look the same to me."

"All these pipes look the same," Tyler grumbled. He walked over to the pipes lined up against the wall and examined them.

"No, look," Jay said as he followed Tyler. He pointed at the second set of pipes along the wall behind the front set. The second set of pipes led up to the ceiling. "This is it. It looks just like the blueprint."

"Let's just keep moving," Will said, grabbing his two friends. "If we get lost, we'll just retrace our steps."

Jay nodded in agreement and stared down at the blueprint in his hands. Tracing the pipes with his finger, he walked down a tunnel and weaved around the corner. Suddenly, he stopped in the middle of an intersection and looked around.

"Hold on," he muttered. Looking back down at the blueprint, he added, "I think we made a wrong turn somewhere. This intersection's not supposed to be here."

"You sure?" Tyler asked as he took the blueprint from Jay. Nodding, he sighed, "Great. Let's go back."

Jay and Tyler started to turn back, but Will grabbed the two by the collars of their jackets. Tyler opened his mouth to say something, but Will clasped his hand around Tyler's mouth. Placing a finger to his lips, he signaled for his friends to be quiet. Then, slowly and carefully, he started back towards the other end of the tunnel.

"What is it?" Jay whispered.

"I heard something," Will replied. "I think there's someone down here."

"It's probably just the steam in the pipes," Jay said, turning back.

Suddenly, the sound of clamoring footsteps resonated throughout the maze of tunnels. Tyler jumped up in surprise and turned around to see if someone was there. Will sternly pushed his index finger up to his pursed lips and led Jay and Tyler back down the tunnel. Quietly, they hastily retreated into another tunnel. Placing their backs against the wall, the three boys listened for the footsteps again. It was still coming.

"We're gonna get lost if we just run around here," Tyler warned his friends.

"What do you suggest we do then, huh?" Jay retorted.

"Be quiet!" Will ordered as he craned his neck out the wall to look. Though he didn't see the person, he saw a shadow moving closer down the tunnel. Turning to Jay and Tyler, he motioned for them to remain silent and instructed, "Stay back."

"What are you – " Jay started.

"Just stay back!"

Jay and Tyler crept back down the other end of the tunnel as Will fell into a crouching position. His eyes aimed down at the moving shadow along the cement floor, he readied himself to pounce. At the end of the tunnel, Jay and Tyler's eyes widened as they saw a man in a blue janitor's outfit walk by. He turned his head to see Will in front of him. Before he could do anything, though, Will reached up with his arm and hooked his left arm around the man's armpit. Pulling the janitor closer to him, Will slammed his elbow into his side and backhanded him across the face. The janitor stumbled towards the wall, but didn't fall. However, Will grabbed him from behind and placed him in a headlock. Squeezing tighter and tighter, he began to put the man to sleep. Seconds later, the janitor's head fell and rested against Will's forearm. Will let his neck go and dragged him down the tunnel.

"Alright," he said. "Let's get back to work."

-----

A police checkpoint was set up near the road Will, Jay, and Tyler had been driving on. There were two squad cars sitting on either side of the road with their sirens blaring. Cones were lined up in front of them leading up the road. Two of the policemen stood outside their vehicles while their partners sat inside ready to back them up. A silver car drove up to one of the policemen. The officer walked over to the driver side and greeted the man.

Standing on the side of the road, Agent Mills watched impatiently as the policeman waved the silver car through. Crossing his arms over his chest, he gave off a bored sigh and looked up at the darkening sigh. Suddenly, he heard a buzzing at his waist. Grabbing at the walkie-talkie attached to his belt, he brought it up to his lips.

"This is Mills. What's going on?" he asked.

"We've got something, sir," an agent answered. "Green Ford Taurus, license plate: APG-649. It's been abandoned and left on the side of the road."

Mills eyes brightened with excitement and he straightened up his posture. "Where are you?"

"Just down the road from where you are, Highway 49."

"I'll be with you soon. Wait there!"

-----

The Lexus Gabriel drove was parked in the middle of an alley a few blocks away from Yale's campus. The doors were all locked, but the trunk was propped open. Standing beside it were Gabriel and Whaley, loading up their weapons. Whaley looked around guardedly as he stuck a new magazine into his Glock 18. Cocking the gun, he stuck it into the holster attached to his waist. Reaching into the trunk once more, he pulled out a small Walther PPK and tested its aiming sights. Everything seemed to be in line with the gun; Whaley shoved it into the ankle holster he wore.

Behind Whaley, Gabriel watched him observantly as he loaded up his own weapon, a silver Colt M1911. He suspiciously watched Whaley as the blonde-haired man finished gearing up. Gabriel's time in the military certainly taught him to be a team player, but there was something about Whaley that made Gabriel uneasy. He hid the holster of his gun with the end of his shirt and adjusted his jacket collar as Whaley slammed the trunk closed.

"A lot of people are gonna die here today," Whaley warned Gabriel. He stared at Gabriel with emotionless, menacing eyes. "You better be ready 'cause I'm not carrying your ass."

"Don't worry about me," Gabriel told his so-called partner. Glaring into Whaley's eyes, he added, "I'll get the job done."

-----

Leaning over the large book on the table, Agent Rex persistently searched through the documents bound inside for any answers or clues. Her index finger ran in a straight line across the top of a page then down to the next line. The agent across from her watched, smiling uncontrollable as he watched her combed through the large book of articles and documents. She'd been at it for over an hour and she still had nothing; she wasn't even a quarter of the way through the book.

"I think it's time to give up, Nicky," the agent told her.

"I'm not the kind of girl to quit just like that, Howie," Rex replied as she moved her finger down the page a little bit more.

"I don't think we're gonna find anything here," the agent said. Lifting up some of the pieces of paper in front of him, he said, "Nothing here checks out with the boys' info. It just doesn't make sense."

"There has to be something that checks out!" Rex shouted. "Why else would they be coming here?"

"I don't know," the agent replied. "A diversion maybe?" he guessed.

"No way! They wouldn't risk getting caught at that architecture firm for a stupid diversion," Rex said. "They're smarter than that."

"Then what do you suppose they're here for, eh?"

Agent Rex didn't answer; she kept her eyes fixated on the words scribbled across the old pages before her. Gradually, her eyes got bigger and a smile formed across her face. The agent across the table furrowed his brow at her.

"What? You find something?" he asked in his gruff voice.

"You ever hear of John Trumbull?" Rex questioned. The agent shook his head. "He was interred here after his death in 1843."

"What's that got to do with us?"

"Three months ago, our guys checked the Drexler for any missing paintings. There was only one painting out of the hundreds that were on display there that went unaccounted for," Rex informed her fellow agent. A bewildered look began to show on his face. "Guess whose painting that was?"

-----

"Agent Rex," she said into her phone.

"Rex, it's Mills. I think we got something good," Mills told her. "My men found the boys' car. It's been abandoned near campus."

"What?!" Rex shouted.

"They're here, Rex," Mills alarmed.

An excited smile crossed Rex's face as she turned to the agent still at the table. Turning back to Mills, she said, "I got something too."

"What is it?" Mills wanted to know.

"I think they're here for something in the Trumbull gallery," Rex said. "Remember how that painting went missing at the Drexler? Well, the guy who painted it has a section of the gallery dedicated all to himself. How much you wanna bet Traveler, Burchell, and Fog are on their way there right now?"

Mills chuckled at his partner and asked, "Did you notify Chambers yet?"

"Yeah, I just did. Everyone's being called back to the Art Gallery," Rex replied.

"Woo hoo! We're gonna get 'em!" Mills cheered. Chuckling, he added, "I'll see you there, Rex."

"Bye, Mills."

Rex hung up her cellphone and stuck it in her pocket. Reaching for the black FBI jacket she placed over the chair, she nodded at the agent paired with her and said, "C'mon, time to get back to base."

-----

A large, square grating embedded into the wall stared back at Will, Jay, and Tyler. With the blueprint in his hand, Jay traced a line across it and nodded with a smile. Turning to his friends, he rejoiced, "This is it!"

"Alright. Let's get it open," Will said as he reached for the army knife stuck in his back pocket. Stabbing the dark, heavy blade into the side of the grating, he pressed one hand against the wall and pulled at the grating with his blade. The grating started to move along with the sound of screws loosening. Will reached down for the bottom right corner and did the same thing. Soon, the grating was loosened from the wall.

Will wrenched the grating out of the hole and set it against the wall. Bending down, he looked into the vent they'd opened up. It didn't look particularly long, but the space was scarce. Crouching, Will hobbled into the vent and wormed his way down it with Jay and Tyler behind him.

"You're sure this is the right one?" Tyler asked uncomfortably.

"I'm pretty certain," Jay replied.

"Good, 'cause it's gonna be hell getting out of here if this isn't it," Tyler grumbled.

Jay chuckled in response, but Will struggled to look at them and put a finger to his lips. "We gotta be quiet. We don't know what's on either side of us."

Jay and Tyler nodded back as they followed Will down the vent. Will made a right turn then a left and headed straight across the vent. Fairly soon, they'd reached the grating leading into the Trumbull gallery. Peering through the small grating in the wall, Will wanted to make sure there were no guards awaiting them outside. Using his army knife, Will started to loosen the grating from this wall like the last one. Less than twenty seconds later, he managed to grab the grating and pull it out. Setting it down flat on the ground, he pushed it out as he made his way out the vent.

Crawling out of the vent, Will, Jay, and Tyler stretched their legs and stood around the Trumbull gallery. Surrounded on all sides by works of art made by John Trumbull, the three boys searched for the marker signifying the crypt's location. Pointing at the far wall, Jay walked up to an engraved copy of the Declaration of Independence painting. Underneath it was a gold plaque with words scribed into it.

"It's under here," Jay said, breathing heavily as he stared up at the engraving.

Will smirked at him and walked up to the engraved painting. He touched it and asked, "Well, how do we get into the crypt?"

"It's right here," Jay said as he bent down.

Crouched on one knee, he felt the exquisite carvings on the ground in front of the gold plaque. There was a latch inside the center carving. It was old and rusted as if no one had touched it in forever. Jay grabbed it and lifted it up. However, he stopped as soon as he heard someone's footsteps nearing him. From behind, he felt Will grab him by the shoulder and drag him and Tyler into a corner behind a large pedestal.

"You two stay here and get into that crypt. I'm gonna distract them," Will told them in a hushed voice.

"No way!" Jay retorted. "There's gonna be a hell of a lot of 'em out there. We can't let you get caught!"

"I can't let all of us get caught," Will replied, staring Jay determinedly in the eyes. He handed the army knife to Jay and continued, "At least if I get caught, you two still have a chance. Things get too hot, just get back into the vents. I promise I'll be back."

Without looking back to see if his friends even agreed with him, Will crept up to the entryway of the gallery. An FBI agent passed by the gallery as Will silently stalked around him. Suddenly, he started running down the hallway, alerting the agent. The man spotted Will and quickly took off after him.

"I've spotted Traveler. I am in pursuit!" the agent shouted into his walkie-talkie.

Back inside the gallery, Jay and Tyler moved away from their hiding spot and crept up to the latch. Jay picked the latch back up and pulled it on as strong as he could. Unfortunately, the hatch to the crypt wouldn't budge. Jay tried again and again, but stopped and dropped the latch back onto the floor. Looking around the hatch, he realized there was a keyhole at the bottom. Pulling out Will's army knife, he dug it into the hole and jiggled it around a little. A few seconds later, he felt something in the hatch loosen up. Smiling to Tyler, Jay pulled on the latch, lifting the hatch open.

-----

"I've got Traveler in the northwest section of the Art Gallery. I am in pursuit! I need backup!" an FBI agent called into his walkie-talkie.

Grasping the walkie-talkie in his hands, the agent raced after Will down a hallway. Will turned into a room and hopped over a velvet rope wrapped around a section of the gallery. He sped across the room, but stopped as he saw someone's shadow coming near the entrance across the floor. Quietly striding over to the other end of the room, Will placed his back against the wall and looked down at the shiny, white floor. The shadow was getting closer. Looking forward, Will saw an old, Victorian-style vase sitting atop a white pedestal. Placing his hands on the sides of the pedestal, he pushed it over, toppling the vase to the ground.

The vase shattered as it fell on the floor, alarming the agent on the other side of the wall. He popped out of his hiding spot, his gun trained forward. To his left, Will lunged at his arm and grabbed it. Locking the agent's left arm between his ribcage and forearm, Will pulled the agent closer to him. He threw a punch at the agent's face twice and squeezed his arm tighter around his forearm. The pain in his arm caused the agent to drop the gun. As soon as he did, Will grabbed him by the neck and slammed the back of his head against the wall. Letting go of him, Will kicked him in the gut and tossed him to the ground.

At the other end of the room, the other FBI agent in pursuit of Will appeared. He brought his gun up and aimed it at Will's head. He fired once, but missed; the bullet sped passed Will's face and embedded itself into the wall behind him. Charging straight at him, the agent kept his hands on his gun. As he got closer, though, Will picked up a piece of the shattered vase and swung it at the agent. He cut open both the agent's hands then kicked him forward. The agent fell back onto another pedestal housing an old, ornamental vase. Before he could collect himself, Will grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and thrust his elbow three times into the agent's face. The agent spat out blood as Will put him in a headlock and drove his knee over and over again into the agent's gut. Soon, the agent was knocked out and Will dropped his limp body onto the floor.

Will stood over the agent's body and reached down to pick up his walkie-talkie. As he unstrapped the walkie-talkie from the agent's belt, he heard a gunshot ring across the room. Turning to his right, he saw another agent firing at him from the other entrance. Hurriedly, he took the walkie-talkie and ran out of the gallery as the agent fired upon him again.

Biting his teeth together, the agent ran over to his two fellow agents who lay on the ground. He checked their pulses then grabbed his walkie-talkie out of the back of his belt. "Traveler took down Levy and Chase. He's heading down the northwest hallway to the west section."

-----

The security room of the Art Gallery was a medium-sized room with several monitors and two computers. There was a table set against the wall to one side of the room with chairs set around them. In the center of the room was a circle of monitors lined with chairs. Displayed on the monitors were security cameras feeds from all around the Yale Art Gallery.

Standing in the center of this circle was Chambers who had an agitated look on his face. "Alright, people. Traveler has been spotted in the northwest section of the building heading west. Our cameras spotted Burchell and Fog in the Trumbull gallery. Mills, I want you to take your men and pursue Traveler. Rex, you're coming with me! We're goin' after Burchell and Fog. Everyone clear?"

With that, nearly everyone inside the security room dispersed. Only a handful of FBI agents and security guards were left standing inside the room.

-----

Keeping the hatch propped open, Jay watched as Tyler grabbed the edges of the floor and dropped down into the tomb. He heard Tyler's feet land on the ground underneath and glanced around him. Once he was sure no one was near, he grabbed the edges of the floor as well with one hand and brought the hatch down with the other. The sound of his feet dropping to the floor below echoed throughout the capacious chamber.

Behind Jay, Tyler reached into his backpack for a flashlight and turned it on. Swinging it around the chamber, Tyler noticed all the cobwebs and dust around them. He covered his mouth with one hand and walked back over to where Jay was.

"Who do you think the last person that was down here was?" Tyler asked jokingly.

Jay chuckled and replied, "Doesn't matter as long as they didn't get what we came here for."

Tyler moved the flashlight across the dirty floor and brought it up to a gigantic tombstone embedded into the wall. Strolling over to it, he discovered the tombstone was inscribed with words. At the bottom was the phrase, "To his Country, he gave his SWORD and his PENCIL."

"This is it," Jay gasped as he read the bottom inscription.

Tyler flashed the light down onto the floor and sighed, "So, what are we looking for?"

Jay shrugged at his friend and said, "I don't know. The Baron just said the answers we need would be here."

Nodding, Tyler got closer to the wall and touched it with his hand. Glass was placed in front of a stone shelf built right into the wall on either side of the inscription. Dust stuck to Tyler's fingers as he pulled his hand away. Wiping the dust off on his pants, Tyler flashed the light on the spot he'd wiped off and turned to Jay. "It looks like a pharaoh's tomb; all Trumbull's stuff is here. Photographs, medals, pens, paintbrushes, scrolls, notebooks, everything."

"You think one of the things in there has the answers?" Jay wondered.

"Won't know till we try," Tyler replied.

Pulling the pistol out of his pants, Jay flipped it around in his hand and slammed its butt against the glass case.

-----

Will crouched underneath a large set of stairs inside a blank hallway. He heard the sound of footsteps around him and suspiciously looked around. The walkie-talkie in his hand suddenly burst to life with the voice of a man.

"The east section is clear. He's not here," the man on the radio stated.

Tucking the walkie-talkie into his pants, Will looked out from under the stairwell and hurried down the hallway. Suddenly, he stopped and put his back up against the white wall as he heard the clamor of shoes coming towards him. Looking at the shiny floor, he waited for a shadow to appear.

"Hey!" someone shouted from behind.

Alarmed, Will spun around to see two FBI agents running towards him. With no other choice, he raced down the hallway, alerting the two men behind the other wall of his presence. The four agents hurried after Will as he turned into a room and ran across the floor. Hopping over a short, white bench, he ran out of the room and into another long hallway. As he sped down the hallway, he was tackled into the wall.

Mills appeared out of nowhere and rammed his shoulder into Will who was thrown against the wall. Disoriented for a while, Will looked around in confusion as Mills picked him up by his collar and grabbed his left arm. He tried to twist Will's arm behind his back, but Will ferociously fought back. He elbowed Mills in the forehead with his other arm, forcing him to release his left one. Mills regained balance and lunged at Will, but Will sidestepped the attack and hooked Mills right in the gut. Grabbing Mills by his tie, Will pulled his head down and brought his elbow down on the agent's spine. Mills staggered forward, but Will caught him and put him in a headlock. Wrapping his arms around Mills' head and left arm, Will began driving his elbow into Mills side. However, Mills fought back, slamming Will into the wall behind him to make him release Mills' head. Standing back, Mills threw a punch, but Will blocked and chopped Mills across the throat with his right hand. Coughing, Mills stumbled backwards, allowing Will to kick him in the gut. As Mills fell backwards, Will pulled him back up with his tie then drove his fist into Mills' face several times. Blood flew out of Mills' mouth as Will beat him.

Turning to his left, Will realized the four FBI agents were getting close. Holding Mills by his tie and right shoulder, Will threw him into two of the agents coming towards him. Mills flew into them, knocking them both to the ground, as Will turned and ran into another room. The other two agents ignored their downed comrades and raced after Traveler.

Running across the gallery, Will reached the lobby, where a small group of agents spotted him from the upper floor. With two agents on his tail and three agents above, Will looked outside to see four more FBI agents lined up waiting for him. Breathing heavily, he looked around the lobby for a way to escape. Unfortunately, he was cornered. One of the three agents came down the steps with his gun aimed while the other two remained on the stairs and the two in pursuit appeared from behind the corner. Sighing dejectedly, Will raised both hands in the air in surrender.

-----

Pieces of shattered glass were sprawled all across the floor of Trumbull's crypt. Stepping on the cracked glass, Jay and Tyler searched through his possessions to find whatever it was they were looking for. Among the items they pulled out of the glass case were a notebook, several scrolls of paper, pens and pencils, and books. Shaking his head impatiently, Tyler threw a large, heavy book down on the floor and turned to Jay.

"It's going to take forever to sift through all this stuff!" Tyler told him. "Let's just take everything and leave."

"But –"

"Will's already been gone for too long. We need to think of the worse-case scenario here, Jay. They could've gotten Will and they could be on their way right now," Tyler said sternly. "C'mon, we need to go!"

Looking around as if he was waiting for someone to interject, Jay nodded back and replied, "Alright."

He took off his backpack and set it on the floor. Grabbing all the items out of the glass case, Jay and Tyler stuffed their backpacks with Trumbull's belongings and headed off. Tyler turned the flashlight on at the hatch above, allowing Jay to push it open. As Jay grabbed the edges of the hatch, he lifted his body up and sat on the edge of the floor. He nodded down to Tyler and got up out of the hole. Tyler lifted himself out of the crypt as well with Jay's help. As Tyler climbed to his feet, Jay reached over and slammed the hatch closed. Behind him, Tyler hurried over to the vent and began to pull out the grating covering it.

"I've found Burchell and Fog! Northwest section!" someone shouted from behind. Jay and Tyler both spun around in surprise as the agent aimed his weapon at them. "Burchell, Fog, stand down!"

Breathing heavily, Tyler stood up and raised his arms over his head. Jay bit his lower lip and did so as well. Looking at one another, they shook their heads and turned to the barrel of the agent's gun.

-----

"End of the road, Traveler," one of the agents said to him. He put his gun in its holster and reached for the set of handcuffs on his belt. He pulled them out and unhooked them from one another.

Both his arms raised up, Will looked despondently at the approaching agent. While the rest of the FBI agents trained their guns on him, the single agent came at him with handcuffs. The one with the cuffs grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around in order to cuff him. He hooked the handcuffs tightly around Will's wrists and pulled him closer to him.

"You're coming home," the agent taunted.

Suddenly, the sound of windows breaking echoed throughout the lobby. From outside, a white sedan drove recklessly onto the sidewalk and burst through the entrance. The sedan barreled onwards and skidded across the ground on its side till it slammed into two of the agents carrying their guns. As his fellow agents fell to the floor, the other agent reached for his handgun. His comrades on the stairs aimed down at the white sedan as well, but did not begin firing. Outside, the four agents appeared disoriented as they climbed to their feet.

As he felt the agent let go of his handcuffs, Will immediately kicked his leg backwards, striking the agent in the groin. A loud, pain-staking cry left the agent's mouth as he bended over forward. Immediately, Will spun around and headbutted the agent across the temple. The agent fell to the ground where Will kicked him hard across the face. Turning to the white sedan in front of him, Will noticed Marlow sitting behind the wheel.

He stared at her with much confusion as she opened her door and hopped out of the car. He didn't have much time to process what was happening, though, as the agents at the stairs opened fire on them. Will dove onto the hood of the car and slid down to the other side as a bullet smashed into the windshield. Inside the car, Marlow opened the passenger side door and her own. Will looked at her from the other side of the car as she slid out the driver's side.

Crouching behind the driver's side door, Marlow fired her handgun at the men at the stairs. Turning to Will she shouted, "C'mon, Traveler, we have to go."

All the while, Will stared at her with a bewildered look on his face.

-----

In the back of the Art Gallery were several FBI agents guarding the back exit. At the other end of the alley, a Lexus pulled up and stopped right in front of them. Gabriel and Whaley exited the car and slammed their doors, prompting the agents to turn to them.

One of the agents extended his palm out in front of them and said, "I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to leave the premises. There is an important operation going on here."

"Oh we know," Whaley told him in a mocking manner. "That's why we're here."

Suddenly, he pulled out his gun and opened fire on the agents. Surprised, Gabriel watched as Whaley sprayed bullets out at the five agents in front of him. None of them even had enough time before Gabriel took them down. The agent in front of him fell to the ground and tried to reach for his gun near Whaley's feet.

"Open the door," Whaley instructed Gabriel.

Blinking at Whaley, Gabriel slowly walked away from his side and stood in front of the door. Noticing the agent at his feet, Whaley stared down blankly at him. The agent was still straining to reach his gun. Pointing his gun down at the man, Whaley mercilessly let loose on the trigger.

-----

Will ducked behind Marlow as she fired her weapon on the agents at the stairwell. As he watched one of the two agents go down, Will noticed one of the men Marlow had run over was beginning to awaken. Marlow apparently noticed as well as she fired a bullet into the man's shoulder. Groaning loudly, the agent's head fell back and he lost consciousness. To the right, the four agents at the entranced rose to their feet and began firing.

Turning to Marlow, Will ordered, "Get my cuffs off!"

Marlow pointed her gun at the chain of Will's handcuffs and fired. The cuffs broke in half and Will brought his arms in front of him. Reaching at his belt, he pulled out his USP. Holding the gun close to him, Will looked out through the driver's seat. Aiming his gun out at the men in the entryway, he opened fire. One of the men went down from a shot to his knee. As he collapsed, Will fired another bullet into his chest. Dropping back to take cover, Will listened to the hail of bullets coming at him.

Atop the staircase, the other agent fired again at Marlow, but missed. Two of his bullets hit the front bumper of the sedan while another destroyed the half-open window of the driver's side door.

Pointing her gun over the window, Marlow fired up at the man again. The agent ducked behind the railing, though, as he began to descend down the stairs. Marlow fired at him several more times, but each time, she missed. Forced to reload, she took cover behind the door and reached for another clip. As soon as he heard the gunfire stop, the agent rose to his feet and opened fire.

Startled, Marlow jumped as she pushed the clip into her weapon. Cocking the gun, she waited for the agent to finish firing. Once he did, she popped back up and opened fired. However, he had dropped to the ground again and began reloading.

Behind Marlow, Will crept around the side of the car and aimed his gun over the trunk. The agents outside didn't even notice him as he began firing at them. He took one down with a headshot and shot another one down with a bullet to his chest. The last standing agent fired at Will, but he managed to duck behind the bumper of the car. As the agent stopped to reload, Marlow pointed her gun at his head and fired a bullet. Blood spurted out the other side of his head and his body crashed to the sidewalk.

At the top of the stairwell, the last agent fired down at Marlow and Will. Marlow fired back up at him along with Will. Neither side seemed to get a clean shot at the other, though. Seconds later, Marlow and the agent both stopped to reload. Looking out through the side of the car, Will saw the agent duck behind the railing. Hurriedly, he raced across the room and slid across the floor as the agent finished reloading. At the same time, the agent and Marlow fired upon one another. With the agent distracted, Will crawled along the ground towards the foot of the stairs. Peeking out through the side, he saw the agent hadn't noticed him yet. Crouching at the bottom of the stairwell, he aimed his gun at the agent and fired a bullet into his side. The agent let out an agonized groan and turned his gun to Will. Before he could fire, though, Will shot him in the right shoulder, forcing him to drop the gun.

Standing, Will turned to Marlow who was walking towards him. "We have to go back to Jay and Tyler. The other agents might've found them already."

"Agent Marlow…" someone gasped from the shattered doorway of the Art Gallery.

Alarmed, Will quickly turned and pointed his gun at the voice. Marlow looked over as well; her eyes gaped open as she saw Allison Chambers standing at the doorway. It had been a while since she'd seen Allison. Over six months if she remembered correctly. Will cocked his gun and trained his sights on Allison. Marlow reached over and covered the barrel of his gun, though.

"What are you doing?!" Will demanded to know.

"Put your gun down," Marlow ordered him. Holstering her weapon, she looked at Allison and asked, "Ally, sweetie, what are you doing here?"

-----

The agent at the entryway to the Trumbull gallery trained his gun on Jay and Tyler as they stood still with their hands up. Both boys had distressed expressions on their faces as the agent eased towards them. While he held his 10 mm in one hand, he reached behind his back for his walkie-talkie.

"This is Agent Meckler. I am in the northwest section of the Art Gallery in the Trumbull gallery," he said into the radio. "I have Burchell and Fog in front of me. I need backup. I repeat: backup needed in Trumbull gallery." Agent Meckler stuck the walkie-talkie back onto its holster on his belt and drew out a pair of handcuffs. With his gun trained on Jay's head, he turned to Tyler and ordered, "Stay put. Don't move or I will be forced to shoot your friend."

Keeping his arms in the air, Tyler begrudgingly nodded as Jay looked at him with a dejected look. Agent Meckler grabbed Jay by the shoulder and turned him around. Pinning Jay's chest onto the wall, Meckler reached for his wrist.

"Don't move!" a female voice said from behind.

Meckler immediately spun around and trained his gun on the source of the voice: Marlow. Marlow stood at the entryway with her gun pointed at Meckler's forehead. Standing behind her were Will and Allison. Tyler looked at Marlow with a perplexed and dazed expression on his face. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Marlow!" Meckler shouted.

"I said, don't move, Jonathan," Marlow told him. She kept Meckler's head in her sights, but didn't pull the trigger.

"What are you doing, Marlow?! Stand down!" Meckler demanded.

"I can't let you take them in," Marlow replied.

"If you try to stop me, I will take you down," Meckler warned.

Marlow nodded her head at her old friend and said, "Guess you'll have to, then, huh?"

Before Meckler could do anything more, Jay spun around and slammed his elbow into Meckler's neck. The agent fell to the ground, dropping his gun. He tried to rise again, but Jay kicked him back down. As Meckler fell, his head bounced against the hard floor, rendering him unconscious. Bending over, Jay picked up Meckler's gun and pointed it at Marlow.

"Stay back," Jay instructed her.

"I'm here to help you, Burchell," Marlow informed him.

"Stay back!" Jay repeated. Looking behind her at Will, he shouted, "Will, come here."

"Meckler, this is Chambers. Meckler, do you copy?!" Chambers voice asked through the radio. All eyes fell on the black walkie-talkie on Meckler's belt. "Meckler!"

Raising his eyes, Will turned to his friends and stated, "We have to get out of here."

"Fine," Jay said. He turned to pull the grating out of the wall, but Will stopped him.

"We have to get out another way!" Will said. "They knew we were coming so they probably found our car by now. We can't risk going back to it!"

"How else are we gonna get outta here, Will?!" Tyler wanted to know. "This place is crawling with Feds by now! You heard the walkie-talkie! Chambers is coming!"

"We can still escape through the front entrance. All the agents they left there are down," Will suggested.

As Tyler started walking towards Will, he noticed Allison standing behind Marlow. Pointing a finger at her, he said, "Who's the girl?"

"Chambers' daughter," Will answered as he turned around and led the group out of the Trumbull gallery.

Tyler looked at her with a bewildered look on his face, but couldn't help but think at how beautiful she looked. Shaking her image out of his head, Tyler followed Will and Jay out the gallery with Marlow and Allison following behind. As the group of five hurried out of the Trumbull gallery, they stopped at the sound of a gun cocking behind them. Turning around slowly, they noticed Otis Whaley standing behind them with his gun pointed clumsily in their direction.

Whaley smirked devilishly at them as their eyes widened. Nervously, Tyler turned around to look for a way out, but was surprised to see another gun pointed at them. His face seemed to slump sadly as he saw the hand holding the gun. It was Gabriel with a blank expression on his face. He cocked the gun and kept it trained on Tyler as Tyler and his friends looked at him with dogged expressions.

"Time to give up," Whaley taunted from behind.

"So this is how it's gonna end?" Tyler muttered to Gabriel. "You're gonna kill your own brother?"

"I'm sorry. I have to," Gabriel wept. He was about to pull the trigger, but Marlow lifted her gun towards him.

"Don't move, Agent Marlow!" Whaley shouted from behind. "I'll take the girl out."

Allison turned to Whaley as she realized he was talking about her. The barrel of Whaley's gun was directed exactly at her. Her body began to tremble and it felt like her heart stopped beating as she stared into the black hole.

Refusing to listen, Marlow kept her gun trained on Gabriel. "Put the gun down or your partner goes down."

"My partner?" Whaley replied. "Like I care."

Unnoticed, Will whipped out his pistol and aimed it at Whaley. Eyeing him out the corner of his eye, Whaley scoffed at his quick movements. Tilting his head, Will asked tauntingly, "You care now?"

"Drop the gun, Traveler!" someone instructed from down the hallway. Turning to his left, Will saw Chambers coming at him with his gun aimed in his direction. He stopped a few feet short and cocked his weapon.

"Dad!" Allison shouted from across the hall.

Surprised, Chambers took his attention away from Will and turned to his daughter. His eyes widened in a mixture of shock and anger as he looked at his beloved daughter. "Ally, what are you doing here?!" he demanded to know.

"I think we should save the reunions for later. Don't you agree, Chambers?" Whaley said as he waved his gun at Allison.

Clenching his teeth, Chambers turned his gun away from Will and turned it on Whaley. "Drop your gun," he instructed.

"You gonna shoot me, sir?" Whaley asked mockingly. "You wouldn't want them to know the truth, would you?"

Sweat dripping down his forehead, Chambers agitatedly screamed, "Drop the damn gun!"

Whaley smirked at Chambers as he opened his mouth to speak. However, he stopped when he heard a gun cocking behind him. Standing there was Rex. "He said, drop the gun!" she shouted.

In the middle of all the guns pointed around them, Jay and Tyler turned to one another. Both of them had worn out looks on their faces. Exhaustedly breathing, the two boys could do nothing but hold tightly on to their backpacks, which held the truth about the journey they had set out on. Closing their eyes, Jay and Tyler dropped to the ground as they heard the cacophony of gunshots ringing around them.