Virgil Joins the Gang

"Alright," Virgil said quietly, now that the van was on course for the home of Janus Prince (much to Roman's annoyance). "Can I be filled in now? Maybe so I can actually tell the police what the heck happened?"

Roman transferred the Declaration to a cylindrical case made for holding posters and things. It should store it well till they got to examine it. "Yeah. So, you know by now that my name isn't actually Paul Brown. I just knew you wouldn't take me seriously if you knew that my real name is Roman Prince."

Virgil instantly turned to face him. "Prince? Like that family of treasure hunters?" At Roman's nod, he started biting his nails. "I should've known. Of course I got dragged into this mess with a bunch of lunatics. No, it had to be the crazy treasure hunters."

"I take offense to that," Logan said in a deadpan tone from the driver's seat.

"That's Logan Richards, tech genius. Really the only one of us who knows what he's doing, which is both helpful and concerning."

Patton, who was now sitting shotgun next to Logan, turned and waved. "I'm Patton!"

It was impossible not to grin when he was being... well, himself. Virgil was no exception, half-heartedly waving.

"Patton White, my best friend since forever." Roman glanced towards Logan. "How far is it?"

"We'll be lucky to get there by two in the morning, and it's not even midnight yet. I know what I'm doing, Roman, and I can assure you this is the fastest route."

Ro rolled his eyes. He loved Logan but wow, that guy could be such an ass. The driver clearly didn't have anything else to add to the conversation, so Roman turned back to Virgil, who was now playing with his hair.

"And... the guy chasing us?"

"My brother," Roman sighed, "Remus. He ditched us when we wouldn't let him steal the Declaration, but then no one took us seriously. We had to steal it first so he couldn't get it. We were running out of options."

Virgil curled up small, knees to his chest and bangs falling in his face. "You were being serious in my office earlier. If I'd have listened this wouldn't have happened." He groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I'm so stupid."

Unnoticed, Patton had gotten up and joined them in the back of the van. "No, you're not. We sounded crazy."

"But I—"

"No." Patton glanced at the case sitting beside Roman that held one of the most valuable documents in the country. "What matters is that Remus didn't get it. Now we just have to figure out how to move forward."

Suddenly the van swerved. "Shit," Logan mumbled. Several police sirens went by all at once. "They're all headed to the Archives. It won't be long before they figure out it was us, since someone left a paper trail."

Patton turned to Roman, clearly about to ask who left a paper trail, and what that was, before Virgil explained that if Roman used a credit card in the gift shop, they could figure out who the card belongs to and get his name and address. Patton silently went "oh."

Roman swore under his breath. "Well sorry that I didn't want to look more suspicious than I already did! It's not exactly easy to just walk out of a building holding the Declaration of Independence."

Virgil, still curled in on himself, was biting his nails. "We're definitely going to prison. We'll go to prison and we'll die there and it'll be horrible and—"

"Woah, woah, woah," Roman said quietly. "Calm down. We are not going to prison. We just have to stay ahead until we find the treasure and then this will blow over."

He stopped and glanced at Virgil. "We? Why wouldn't you say we, like, kidnapped you or something? What reason do you have to take our side?"

The historian pulled off his jacket and tie, looking very grateful to not need them. He untucked his shirt and messed up his hair, and suddenly he looked so much more comfortable. It reminded Roman of the casualness in his office earlier.

"Because I believe you. I didn't before, but I don't really have a choice now."

"So you're gonna come with us?" Patton asked, practically bouncing.

Virgil gave a smile, though his eyes were filled with fear. "I mean, yeah. Why not?"

He flinched slightly when Patton suddenly hugged him, but immediately relaxed.

Roman propped his feet up against a toolbox. "Might as well try and rest while we can, since Specs is so sure we won't get there for another three hours."

"Yes, please do," Logan mumbled. "A break from you morons would be very appreciated." He gasped after Roman chucked his wadded up suit jacket at him. "You can't throw things at me when I'm driving, Roman!"

"I can and I did."

"Shut up."