A/N: This is set just after National Treasure 1, maybe three or four weeks later.
11:26 P.M.
"Hey, Ben. Listen, I have kind of a little problem here, and I could use your help. So call me back as soon as you can, okay?"
"Hey, Ben. Where are you? Honestly, man, I really could use your help. And Abigail's. So call me back soon, okay?"
"Ben, where the heck are you? I really need you guys here. Call me back, okay? Hurry."
"Ben, wherever you are, stop being there and get over here! I mean it, Ben, if you and Abigail don't get here soon I'm sunk. Please!"
Ben Gates frowned worriedly as he flipped his cell phone shut. He had left it on the kitchen counter to charge after leaving it in his car the night before, and was just now listening to the day's messages. "Abigail, did Riley leave any voice mail on your cell phone?"
She glanced at him as she finished taking her coat off and hung it on the coatrack by the back door, then picked up her purse and fished her cell phone out. She flipped it open, clicked a few buttons and frowned. "No, but I have five missed calls from him. What's wrong?"
Ben had already used the landline by the refrigerator to dial Riley's home phone number and was waiting for it to ring. "I don't know. He just kept saying that he needs our help and to call him." He pulled the phone away from his ear and scowled at it before slamming it down. "He's not answering. How does he expect me to call him back?"
"Try his cell phone. And let me listen to the messages." Abigail reached over and picked up his cell phone.
"We can try it in the car. Whatever it is, we need to head over there. He sounds panicked." Ben grabbed the keys from where he had dropped them only minutes before, took his coat and Abigail's from the coatrack, tossed hers at her, and pulled his on. "Come on."
Half an hour later, after repeatedly trying and failing to get hold of Riley, they pulled up in front of his apartment. Abigail climbed out of the passenger side of the car and slammed the door behind her as she ran over the sidewalk and up the steps. Ben came around from the other side and followed at an only slightly slower pace. She bypassed the doorbell and knocker and opened the door just as Ben caught up with her, and they both stepped inside. And froze.
Riley's living room was in a worse state of chaos than either of them had ever witnessed. There was a pile of laundry in one corner, and a huge heap of books, papers, and assorted knickknacks in another. Every available surface was in a jumbled clutter, and the floor was littered with small bits of assorted debris. They could hear the dishwasher, the washing machine, and the dryer in other parts of the apartment, all running at once. And in the middle of the living room were Riley's couch, with all the cushions pulled off and tossed aside, and Riley himself, holding a vacuum cleaner hose and frantically running it over the couch's inner regions.
He was oblivious to the door opening amidst all the noise, and Ben and Abigail stood there for a moment, staring at him and his surroundings in shock. Then Ben, his jaw tight, walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. Riley gave a yelp that was barely audible and whirled around. When he saw Ben, his face lit up and he threw his arms around him, effectively covering him in dust and grime. "Ben!" he yelled.
Ben disentangled himself with a grimace and reached over to turn the vacuum cleaner off, lowering the noise to a manageable level. "Riley, what the heck is going on?" he snapped angrily. "You leave frantic messages on my cell phone, you don't answer when we try to call back, you have us drive all the way over here, and when we get here you're housecleaning? Riley, you had us-Abigail worried sick."
Riley's eyes widened. "You called back? Aw, man, I'm sorry, Ben. I didn't hear it!"
"No wonder," Abigail snapped.
"But where were you, anyway? I called like twenty times on both of your guys's cell phones before I gave up."
"We were at a movie," Ben said. "I left my cell phone at home to charge and Abigail had hers turned off in the theater. What's going on?"
"You went to a movie?" Riley asked, looking a little hurt.
"It was a date," Abigail explained exasperatedly. "Riley, what is so urgent that you had to scare me half to death?"
Riley groaned and ran his hand through his hair, adding to its disarray and leaving grey streaks on his forehead. "You guys have to help me. This place has to be cleaned up by six o'clock tomorrow. In the morning." Turning back to the couch, he moved the vacuum cleaner hose out of the way and started stuffing the cushions back into place. "I've been working for three hours straight, and look at it!"
"Why does it look so much worse if you've been cleaning it?" Ben asked, kicking at an errant dust bunny with the toe of his shoe.
"Because under every layer of mess there's another layer! Like, the floors need to be swept and mopped and vacuumed, but before I can do that I need to clean up the floor, and that means clearing space on the bookshelves for all the books and stuff, and that means dusting the shelves, and that means getting everything that's already on the shelves off the shelves!"
"So why are you cleaning out the couch?" Ben asked, but before Riley could answer Abigail cut in frustratedly.
"Riley, why does the apartment need to be cleaned? I mean," she glanced around, "why now?"
"I didn't tell...? Oh. My parents are going to be at the airport at seven tomorrow, and I have to be there to pick them up, and guys, if my mom sees this-"
"Your parents are coming?" Abigail asked, perking up a bit.
"Yes, I just said that. My dad called three hours ago and said that he had been able to book an immediate flight from Oregon because there had been a cancellation or whatever, and-"
"They live in Oregon?"
"Yes! Ben, tell her to be quiet."
"Just tell us what's going on."
"Fine. So they're coming, and I really need your help before they get here. Please."
Ben nodded thoughtfully, looking around the living room. "Where should we start?" A huge relieved grin spread across Riley's face.
Abigail poked Ben in the side with her elbow. "Ben, I can't clean in this!" She was still wearing what she had worn for their date, a pale pink blouse and black dress pants. Ben's nice jeans and blue button-up shirt were already smudged from Riley's exuberant greeting. He shrugged.
"You can buy new clothes. We're not exactly hard up, Abigail."
"Well, I don't want to ruin these. It's one of my favorite shirts, and I like these pants."
"You can borrow one of my shirts," Riley offered hopefully. "And... pajama pants?"
She sighed and seemed to be thinking about it for a moment, but relented when Riley's shoulders drooped and his face became crestfallen. "All right, fine. Just the shirt. I can wash the pants, they won't stain."
Riley beamed and ran into his bedroom, coming back with a black Star Wars T-shirt which he threw at her. She disappeared into the bathroom to change, and he turned to Ben with a grateful expression. "Honestly, Ben, thank you. My mom would be upset if she saw this..."
Ben nodded and clapped him on the shoulder. "It's fine. So why did they decide to come over here so suddenly, anyway?"
"Oh, Mom's been dying to see me since we found the treasure. I guess they got tired of being put off, 'cause I think that 'immediate flight because of a cancellation' thing was just so I wouldn't have a chance to make up any more excuses about why they couldn't come. Dad was kind of vague about it."
Ben raised his eyebrows. "Why wouldn't you want them to come?"
Riley winced and shifted uncomfortably. "No, it's not... I mean, I want to see them, just not... right away."
"Why not?" Ben pressed, but just then Abigail exited the bathroom, wearing the T-shirt and a long-suffering air.
"All right, Riley. Where should we start?"
He brightened and looked around. "Um, well, Ben, you could help me go through all these books and papers and stuff," he gestured towards the heap of things in the corner, "and, um, Abigail... you could start on the fridge. I think it needs a... little bit of cleaning out." Ben looked at him somewhat suspiciously, but Abigail nodded and started towards the kitchen.
"Where are your cleaning supplies? Under the sink?" she called over her shoulder.
"Yeah, and there are some rubber gloves on the counter. Might want to use some." Riley knelt down next to Ben and started shuffling through a stack of papers, casting nervous glances towards the kitchen. It didn't take long for Ben to find out why.
"RILEY! I have never seen anything so disgusting in my life!"
Riley grimaced and started sorting faster.
A/N: You know what I realized when I was writing this? In the movies, not once do Ben or Riley call Abigail anything but Abigail or Dr. Chase(or the Mean Declaration Lady). Never Abby.
Please review! Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.