It's A Matter of Trust
Disclaimer: I do not own anything mentioned in this story except for the character of Alexandra H.
Chapter Six: Oh what a tangled web we weave/ when first we practice to decieve
She was working late again that night. A small fire was burning in Ben's massive traditional fireplace and the den in which they had deemed headquarters was at the perfect temperature. She was curled up on one of the long, black leather sofa's with a black throw blanket over her legs, one of the many manila paper files in her hands as she read the contents carefully. Something just wasn't making sense. As her brown eyes trailed the final sentence on the sheet of paper she was reading, she sighed and shut the file, looking up towards the clock which hung above the door. And there he was.
He was standing in the doorway, one arm resting above his head as he leaned against the doorframe. He was wearing jeans and a forest green sweater that made the blue in his eyes seem like deep pools of clear water. He was looking at her from his spot, a small smile on his lips. When she caught his eyes, he dislodged from his post at the door and slowly made his way to her, taking small deliberate steps. He reached her and then stood infront of her, holding out a hand. She took it and stood up, letting the blanket slide off of her and onto the floor while the file as well hit the floor, its contents now strewn about them. She was holding her breath, not too sure what was happening but loving it none the less. He closed the distance between them and with his free hand, brushed some of her hair out of her face while looking at her dead in the eyes. He was getting closer and closer to her; their lips mere inches apart. She closed her eyes, anticipating what was about to happen. Any second now…
"Alex?"
Her body jolted up, as if a surge of electricity just went through her. Blinking, she took in her surroundings and composed herself. She was sitting at the table in the middle of the room, papers strewn about. She'd fallen asleep while reading a file on the chemical composition of the US Constitution, which clearly was a very dry read. She looked around and then ran a hand through her hair, glancing at her wrist watch.
"Yeah, I'm up. What's up?" she asked Riley, who was standing in the doorway, watching her with an amused expression. He leaned against the door frame and observered her as she groggily shoved some papers back into a manilla file, shutting it and placing it on a stack of similar coloured files that was growing quite precariously in height. She pushed her hair out of her face and rested her elbows on the table, yawning. She looked beat.
"I was just coming to get you, dinner's ready" he said to her, watching as she got up and shut off the lamp on the table, walking over to him slowly.
"I swear, if I have to read another file involving how much carbon or potassium the US Constitution contains, I'm going to flip" she said tiredly as they walked down the hallway towards the kitchen, where she could hear the faint voices of Ben and Abigail. He laughed and then turned the corner with her, finally reaching the kitchen.
"Alex, were you sleeping again?" Ben said as he turned around from the stove, continuing to stir whatever was emitting a delicious aroma. She crossed her arms over her chest angrily and glared at them all.
"You'd fall asleep to if you were reading some boring report on how the amount of Carbon 40 clearly co-insides in how the Constitution was signed in 1788, not 1787 when it was created. Tell me again why I have to fake being a Chemical Engineer? I didn't even take Chemistry in high school" she grumbled as she busied herself with mixing a salad. They all laughed and even Alex broke a small smile. It was pretty funny.
"The three of us are too well known. Any of us getting a job at National Archives would raise suspicion. People would get all excited and think that we were looking for another treasure, which we sort of are, but it's so much easier when people don't know. But that's where you come in. Alexandra Howe, Professional Engineer, has been tasked to do a full and complete diagnostic test as well as other research for the International Manuscript Foundation" Abigail explained, smiling rather smugly at Ben who was smirking at everyone. They all seemed to be rather impressed with the brilliance of their plan to get a good look at the Constitution.
"Que James Bond music since shockingly," Riley started, grinning as he finished pouring wine into four glasses, distributing one to each of them.
"The International Manuscript Foundation does not exist" she finished for him, making him frown.
"Hey, wanna not steal my thunder there, sunshine?" he said defeatedly, corking the bottle and putting it back in the fridge. She laughed and then took the salad to the table, the four of them sitting down to eat.
"They still have to verify it, of course" she pointed out in-between mouthfuls of capeletti pasta, which Ben had made, which was surprising, since every time he cooked they usually ended up ordering something else since it was usually inedible.
"They will. Ben's a pro at forgery. It's kinda badass" Riley explained, causing Alex to choke on the wine she had just tried to swallow. They all laughed again and eventually she settled down, her eyes watering from the choking sensation.
The conversation turned and the four of them spent a good deal of time at the table, conversing and eating slowly. They talked about a lot; movies, music, books, and even global warming. She was really enjoying spending time with the three of them since it didn't even feel like she was working most of the time.
"I'm going to head off…jet lag's been keeping me up pretty late for the past couple of days so I'm going to get some rest. Night everyone" she said, stifling another yawn as she departed from the kitchen and made her way to the stairs. Her feet seemed as heavy as bricks as she hauled them up the steps, finally reaching her doorway and throwing her body down onto her bed as soon as she shut her door.
Her eyelids fell like heavy curtains over her eyes and she was plunged into a world of darkness. She was so tired that she wasn't even planning on changing into her pyjamas. Her mind floated from topic to topic, eventually settling on the clue. The people know, what only has been told, she thought. Well that clearly refers to the Constitution. That much is pretty obvious.
She flipped over and onto her side, her eyes still shut and her mind still locked onto the clue. The story lost, it's age of old. Okay so it's an old story, probably a legend or a myth of treasure…Atlantis, maybe? Oh for goodness' sake, of course it's not talking about Atlantis. That story hasn't been lost now, has it?, she rationalized in her mind, slightly aggravated that it wouldn't settle and just let her doze off into sleep. She flipped over to the other side and kept her eyes shut, almost out of protest to her mind to let her go to sleep.
The names at the bottom, signature's signed; among them hold value, the place hidden, blind. So basically the location of whatever we're looking for is hidden among the signatures somewhere. Who signed the Constitution anyways? Washington did, probably the most famous out of all 39 signatures, she continued to think, giving a muffled sigh as she resigned to her mind and opened her eyes.
"So the clue is hidden among the signatures…but how am I going to be able to find it?" she murmered to herself in a hushed tone, speaking out loud. Her mind raced a little bit faster now, stumbling along a potentially mission-halting road block. She had no idea what she was looking for let alone what she was going to find if in fact she was granted access to the Constitution. She'd basically be flying blind.
"Blind…" she murmered to herself. Blind…blind. If someone's blind, they can't see. And the name to this place can't be seen since it would have been seen by now. So how is this location blind? Unless… Immediately, the cogs in her mind clicked together and the light bulb above her head lit up. She figured out how someone managed to hide a name to a location on one of the most influential US documents of all time. It was invisible, since it didn't use ink, and to the unsuspecting hand it would merely feel as random pumps and indents on a page since the alphabet for this type of communication was not founded until 1821, well after the signing of the document. Her eyes widened further at this realization and she bolted upright, sitting with her back as straight as a board. She knew how someone had managed to encode the Constitution with a name of a place. They'd done it through,
"Braille"
((Author's Note: HEYYYY! So I know, it's taken forever for this chappie to be done and to be frank, it's not all that great. Well you try writing a half decent chapter while doing math/english/physics/and religion university prep!! Lemme tell you, IT'S FRIGGEN HARD. I'll keep on writing as often as I can and the next chapter I write for this will involve them actually going a head with their plans and things getting underway. REVIEWS OWN ME. Cookie? Oooh, no, a danish. Everyone loves a good danish))