Cubicles

"But you don't work here anymore—it's just a vacant three by four." –My Chemical Romance

Rating K+ for some minor language (I think I threw a curse word or two in there) and overall silliness.

Foreword

Holy crap, this one actually is a song fic?! Sort of…there's a song in there, if that counts. But it's not that My Chem song, though I do like it and that whole first CD, and kudos to the lead singer for writing an awesome comic book series. No, the song I'm using is "For the Workforce, Drowning" by another Jersey band, Thursday, because it's awesome and applies better to the story. And anyone who, like me, goes to school and works in a cubicle daily, you know that sometimes it really does feel like you're drowning in everything that's going on.

Also I'm utilizing once again the idea that Ben and Riley already know each other from MIT. Because it is such a great idea that works so well and makes stories like this one more…interesting I suppose. More fun to write, definitely, because random conversation just sounds so much better when spoken among old friends. There's no slash, I swear. No jokes about it either, so we're all cool about that…

And as promised in the summary, there's a trailer for my next big National Treasure story that was previewed in the last one (when will it end?!) because this one shot sort of leads into it. Okay not at all actually, but there's a little something in here that I've carried over that I hope you'll like. So on with the random banter…

The One And Only Chapter

Turn your attention to scenic Newark, New Jersey. Called the Brick City for some reason, it is home to numerous corporations and manufacturing plants just east of Manhattan across the Hudson River. Also considered to be one of the worst cities in the country, it has been ravaged by devastating riots, countless car thefts, murders, drug deals, gang related violence…but they're working on it. Really, they are.

As high as the crime rate is in the city, the cubicle count is just as high, if not even greater. For those large companies that are fortunate enough to have huge sky scrapers, monotonous cubicle life might not be so bad if you can get a good view across the river. But for other, smaller companies, workers are lucky if they can get a windowless view, because at ground level the last thing they want to see is a dirty, traffic heavy street and a scruffy looking homeless man staring back at them.

One such company unfortunate enough to have this situation is the software producing Computon. The Computon offices are located in a small, decrepit looking building's bottom floors below a pharmaceutical company that does barely enough business to stay afloat. Computon is below them and most likely doomed to extinction before they can even get off the ground. Which is probably why employee Riley Poole could care less if he's working or not.

"Flurry…flurry…NO! D'Arvit…Power Attack… … …YES!"

Rapid typing and mouse clicking could be heard from the farthest corner of the poorly laid out room where the young man's cubicle is located. He has a window on one side but he doesn't mind when the destitute come to watch him play. In fact he enjoys the attention, as long as there's a thick piece of glass to separate him from the outside world.

"You're saved, Bastilla! What's that…you don't appreciate my heroic efforts?" He laughed at his computer screen. "No matter…you're stuck with me and my handsome, chiseled face until we kill Darth Malak, the jerk. And then…we'll rule the galaxy together!" A few more frantic clicks followed. "To Dantooine we go!"

This was Riley's idea of working. The twenty two year old would spend as little time as possible doing what he was supposed to do, and use the rest of his shift to play games and talk to himself. Currently he was so involved in the video game he'd beaten at least three times before that he didn't notice when someone walked through the maze of cubicles to his corner.

"I didn't know you were getting paid to play video games…"

Riley nearly fell out of his seat in surprise. That must have been the manager. He rarely ventured as far as Riley's cubicle, but when he did he always had something to say. Actually, to yell. And he never yelled anything nice. But Riley wasn't going to take his crap anymore.

"Listen, man," he said, his eyes still glued to the game before him. "I finished your stupid algorithm in like five minutes, so quit giving me garbage about playing games when I clearly have nothing else to do."

"Wow, five minutes, huh. That's pretty good…I think."

But Riley froze when he realized that this was not in fact his manager's voice. He spun around in his wheelie chair and a wide smile grew on his face when he recognized the figure standing behind him.

"Ben!"

Benjamin Franklin Gates grinned back at him. "Riley," he said with a nod.

"Dude, how did…when did you…" Riley stumbled on his words, too overjoyed to spit out a question.

Ben chuckled at his friend's reaction. "I'm happy to see you too, Riley."

"Seriously though—what are you doing here? I could get in trouble…" Riley shot up from his seat and stood on tip toes to see over his cubicle wall. But no one was paying any attention to him or his guest. The other Computon employees were either deaf to anything outside their ear buds, too involved with their online pornography to care, or were fast asleep with their faces pressed against their keyboards.

"Oh, so having a visitor will get you in trouble, but playing video games is okay?"

Riley rolled his eyes. "I meant it when I said I was done with work. It's not my fault this stuff isn't challenging enough."

Ben leaned on Riley's desk so he could look the other man in the eye. "You want something challenging?"

"Yes!" Riley exclaimed, perking up considerably. "Is this about the trea—"

Ben shook his head and shushed Riley before he could finish. He looked around to make sure no one was eaves dropping before whispering, "yes, it is."

Riley could barely contain his excitement.

"But here's the thing Riley," Ben said in a low voice. "I couldn't just force my way in here to see you and I couldn't exactly tell the truth, so I kinda told your boss I was here to get you because your grandmother died."

"So what," Riley said indifferently. "My grandma's a cranky old hag. She doesn't even send me Christmas or birthday cards…"

Ben groaned. "No Riley…I made that up so I could get you out of here."

"What?" His eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Oh…I get it…"

"Good, now start looking upset or your boss isn't going to buy it."

"He's an asshole."

"Yeah, I got that impression too, Riley," Ben said quickly. "But he's waiting five cubicles down for you to start crying about your recently deceased grandmother."

"Uh, just one problem, Ben…"

"What's that?"

"I don't cry."

Ben blinked at him. "What do you mean you don't cry?"

Riley shrugged. "Not unless I really, really want to. I don't think I can fake it."

"Fine, fine…you don't need to actually cry. Just look really sad or something."

"Okay," Riley said. He cleared his throat and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again he looked at Ben and said, "how's this for sad?"

Ben waited, but nothing in Riley's expression changed. "You look exactly the same."

"What? No, I'm totally frowning…"

"That's what you always look like," Ben said with a sigh. "This isn't working." He thought hard for a moment when a brilliant idea came to him. "Riley hold out your arm."

"Which one?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Okaaay…" he said as he extended his left arm

Ben hunched over the limb to hide it from view while he pinched hard at the flesh on Riley's forearm.

Riley had to bite his lip from crying out. "Ow! Ben, what the hell…" he hissed.

"You look sadder already," Ben said as he started to gather up the view things Riley had lying around in his cubicle. Pens, post it notes, and an action figure of a white skinned, white haired buffed up guy wearing torn pants and jacket that reminded Ben of the Hulk without the greenness.

"Only cause you pinched me," Riley whined. "What are you doing? Solomon Grundy does not like being manhandled…"

"You don't want to have to come back here do you?"

Riley sniffled and shook his head.

"Good." Ben shoved everything into Riley's bag, including a Garfield Pez dispenser he found on the floor beneath the desk chair. "Anything else?"

"But…I was in the middle of saving the Old Republic…"

"You can play games at home. Is there anything else you need?"

Riley shook his head again.

"Alright," Ben said, pinching Riley one more time for good measure. "Let's go."

Ben helped Riley to his feet and put a comforting arm around his shoulders as they walked slowly towards the exit. Riley had effectively turned his fury at Ben into the greatest performance of sad that Ben had ever seen.

"Why, Nana Poole?!" Riley said loudly in a high pitched cracking whiny voice as they walked past Computon's bewildered manager. "Why'd you have to diiieee?!" He buried his face in his hands.

Ben, meanwhile, turned to the boss. "He'll be alright. They were close, you know. Kid loved his grandmother. So…he'll be getting his last paycheck in the mail I assume?"

The man nodded, still looking stunned. "I…I'll send it out right away."

"Oh, thank you," Ben said genuinely as Riley let out a particularly pathetic sounding wail. "Thank you so much…"

Once they were safely out of the building and across the street in the parking garage, Riley threw his hands up in the air and cheered "I'm free! I'm free!"

Ben laughed. "You sure are Riley. But don't think that working with me is going to be easy," he warned as he and Riley climbed into his SUV. "There's a lot of hard labor involved in treasure hunting."

"Wow, nice ride, Ben," Riley said as he craned his neck to look at the interior of the vehicle. "Is this new?"

"Yes, it is," Ben replied as he drove his shiny new car out of the garage. "Riley were you even listening to me?"

"What? Oh yeah sure…treasure hunting's hard work. Still, it's a hell of a lot better than doing the same stuff over and over again in a tiny square with a crappy computer. How'd you find me anyway?"

"Trust me, it wasn't easy…"

"Holy crap, this car has power everything," Riley exclaimed as he fiddled with the buttons on his arm rest. Then he stood up in his seat so he could open and close the sun roof.

"Hey, sit down and put on your seatbelt," Ben said sternly, though he, like Riley, couldn't keep a smile from his face. "I think everything comes with power locks and windows now. What are you driving?"

"I'm, uh, kinda carless. Again."

Ben shook his head and sighed. "Riley…"

"But I swear to God this time it wasn't my fault," Riley said defensively. "I just had the misfortune of parking my piece of crap Honda on the street one day and when I got out it was gone."

"'Gone'?"

"Well it still had a shell, sort of."

"Geez, Riley…"

Riley shrugged off Ben's concern while he examined the SUV's loaded center console. "It's not a big deal really. I prefer public transportation anyway."

"Public transportation can be dangerous too, you know," Ben warned as they happened to drive past a particularly sketchy looking group of people loitering on the sidewalk in front of a graffiti ridden old building. "Especially in the city. You've got to be really careful…"

"Oh yeah, totally," Riley said, his enthusiasm making him deaf to anything Ben was saying. "Wow, you've even got a CD player in this thing! May I?"

"May you…what?"

Riley was already rummaging through his bag. "I just got this sweet new CD. I wanna listen to it to celebrate my freedom from monotonous cubicle labor."

Ben caught a glimpse of a dark grey plastic cover before the disc was slid into his car's player.

"What kind of CD?" Ben dared to ask. He hoped Riley didn't have the same taste in music as most of the cars around them did. Ben didn't care much for rap or hip hop—he found it to be extremely annoying.

"And now," Riley said grinning slyly to Ben while his finger hovered over the play button. "…'For Riley's Workforce, Drowning.'"

"Riley, what—"

But whatever Ben was going to ask was suddenly drowned out by a booming sound. Riley had apparently turned it up almost as high as he could so that each thumping beat of the drums, guitars, and bass could be felt as well as heard. It wasn't rap, and Ben enjoyed most kinds of rock and or roll, but this was too much for his ear drums. The beat quieted for a split second, during which Ben yelled…

"Riley! Turn that down!"

…but was unheard as Riley was already yelling gibberish along to the singing as the tempo picked up once again.

"Falling from the top floor…your lungs fill like parachutes, windows go rushing by…people inside dressed for the fuuuneral in black and white…these ties strangle our necks…hanging in the cloooset…filed in the cuuubicle... … Hey that reminds me…"

Riley ceased his poor attempts to sing along for a moment so he could remove his clip on tie and toss it out the window. Ben tried to use the opportunity try to turn the sound down, only to have his hand slapped away as Riley continued his yelling.

"…reeesumes stored in the mainframe marked for delete!"

"Riley, seriously…"

"…throw them in the riiiver wash away the things they never held…Please take these haaands…"

"…This is my car…"

"…don't let me drown before the work day ennnds! NINE TO FIVE!"

"…That's really loud…"

"…up to our necks drowning in the seconds, ingesting the morning commute…"

"…Riley, you're distracting me…"

"…deeead suuubway sleep…we lie wide awake…"

"…while I'm trying to drive…I might crash…"

"…tossing and turning…tomorrow we'll get up, drive to work, in single file, with everyday just like the last…"

"Riley—"

"…waiting for the life to start, is it alwaaays just ahead of the cuuurrrve..."

"Riley, please," Ben yelled as the song's chorus started up again.

"…please take these haaands…"

"We just need to turn it down a little bit…"

"…throw me in the riiiver, don't let me drown…"

"…I'll make you walk…"

"Wait, Ben…I love this part… Just keep making copies, of copies, OF COPIES! When will it eeend…"

The song grew slightly quieter and Ben was finally able to make himself heard over Riley's continued mumbling along to the song. "…it never ends…until it gets sooo bad…that the ink fills in our fingertips…"

"Riley," Ben called loudly as he was still competing with the noise. "I'm glad you're happy to be out of work, I really am, but can you please—"

"Wait, Ben," Riley said impatiently. "Let me just finish already…"

Ben sighed as Riley sang along to the song as it picked up again in his tone deaf voice that sounded more like mumbling than words when Riley didn't quite know a certain lyric. Ben just shook his head despite the grin that grew on his face.

"…and even in our dreams we're sooo afraid the weight will offset who we are, all these breaths that you took have now been canceled in your lungs. Last night my teeth fell out like ivory, typewriter keys, and all the monuments and skyscrapers burned down and filled THE SEA! Save our ship, the anchor is part of the desk. We can't cut free, water is flooding the decks, the memooos sent through the currents, compuuuters spark like flares…I can see them but they don't touch me, TOUCH ME, pleeease someone teach me how to swiiimmm please…don't let me drown."

Riley head banged the last of the song before finishing up with a dramatic, "…pleeeasssedon'tletmedrooowwwn." And then he was quiet.

Ben turned to his friend with a bemused smile. "You feel better after that?"

"Ahh, much better, thank you," Riley said as he leaned back comfortably in his seat. Ben took the opportunity to turn the music down so it could only be heard as background noise. Riley didn't protest—he'd heard the song he wanted to hear and now he wanted to talk.

"So what's up with you, Ben? I haven't seen you in, like, forever."

"Riley, your graduation was only five months ago…"

"Really? Feels like it's been longer," Riley mumbled. "So…you've been keeping busy with treasure stuff?"

Ben grinned. "You know it."

"Sure you have…while I've been stuck having real jobs like normal people. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to ask me to help you?"

"About five months?"

"Five months too freaking long. I'm kinda surprised you found me at Computon."

"I told you," Ben said with a smirk as he sent a sly look in his friend's direction. "You weren't easy to find…"

Riley gasped. "Oh my God—you called my mom, didn't you?" A slight half grin grew on his face, as though he was unsure if he should laugh at the thought or be horrified by it.

"Why would I need to call your mother?"

"Cause she knows where I live and work and pretty much everything else about me. So, wait…you didn't call her?"

"Should I have?"

"Well she did give you her number. Her cell number."

"Yeah, so…"

"Dude, she totally liked you!"

Ben choked and had to focus very hard to not lose control of his care. "What?!"

"When you guys met at graduation," Riley said, now more amused by Ben's reaction than anything else. "She gave you her number and she kept asking about you."

"We only talked for like five minutes…has she really been asking about me?"

Riley laughed. "No don't worry. I don't want you to be my dad anymore than you want to be my dad. Trust me—she was more interested in your treasure stories than anything else."

"Ah, so she's a gold digger."

"Hey, this is my mother we're talking about," Riley said defensively. "But yes, she is. An unsuccessful gold digger, but whatever."

"I got the impression she was only talking to me to make sure I was good enough to be your friend and I wasn't just some creepy older gentlemen with less than good intentions."

"Uh, yeah," Riley grumbled. "She has a habit of being a little…over protective in a weird, smothering kind of way."

"That's not always a bad thing," Ben reassured him with a sly grin. "She did approve of me, after all."

Riley's jaw dropped as he stared at his friend. "You did call her didn't you?! How else could you have found out where I was…"

Ben chuckled. "Yeah I had to call her. But only as a last resort. I couldn't find where you'd ended up. I assumed you were still with that internship, but when I looked you up they said you'd left after a month."

"It was boring."

"Boring?! Riley, you were working for some of the top programmers in Microsoft. Do you know how much money you would be making if you stayed, even as an intern?"

"I could've been working with Bill Gates himself and still been bored out of my mind."

"Because sitting in a cubicle for Computon is so much more invigorating?" Ben asked sarcastically.

"Ugh, no," Riley groaned. "But I've only been there for a couple weeks, so it didn't have time to bore me to death."

Ben furrowed his brow. "How were you living during the summer?"

"Well I was eating, breathing…there was a roof over my head…I bathe regularly and brush my teeth…"

Ben rolled his eyes. "I meant money wise."

"Oh. Well in those five months since I've seen you last, I've had seven different jobs, the longest lasting five weeks and the shortest lasting four days."

"Seven jobs?"

"It was either that or go back home to mom. Trust me, even as over bearing as she can be, she doesn't want that anymore than I do."

"And you got bored with all these other jobs, too?"

Riley shrugged. "They were all programming-while-sitting-in-a-cubicle-all-day jobs for different companies. The really short one was more hands on stuff, like fixing hard drives and computer parts and whatever. But you know me—don't like to get my hands dirty." When he realized what he'd just said, he added a quick, "unless it has to do with treasure, of course."

"Of course," Ben repeated with a laugh. "And trust me, you won't get bored with what we're going to be doing."

"Phew, that's good. But, uh, Ben…what will we be doing?"

"You'll find out eventually. First I want you to meet some people."

Riley's smile fell. "Oh, yeah sure, people," he mumbled, trying not to sound too disappointed. He didn't like meeting new people. He'd been hoping this would be just a Ben and Riley project. Riley sighed and turned to look out the window, noticing for the first time that they'd left Newark completely and were already entering the traffic ridden streets of an even bigger city. "Ben…where're we going?"

"A really fancy restaurant."

"Really? Crap, I should've kept my tie. Do I look okay?"

"You look fine."

"Are you sure? I could at least change my shirt or get a nicer jacket or something…but I live in Newark…you've gotta go back to Newark…"

"Riley, you're fine," Ben insisted. "And I know where you live already. I actually stopped at the tiny, dingy, barely livable place you consider to be an apartment first."

"My mom told you that?"

"Yup. She also told me how much she hates that you're living in Newark."

"Well I wanted to be in Manhattan, but I was a little short on funds."

"She's right, you know. It really is dangerous living alone in the city…"

"Ugh…thanks dad, but I've been just fine. The most I've ever been mugged was like ten bucks."

Ben looked horrified. "Mugged?!"

Riley shrugged. "I don't think it even counted as a mugging. A shifty looking character came up to me at the bus station one night so I just threw some money at him and ran."

"Really?"

"Really…that is a true story. Just don't tell my mom about it."

"Alright," Ben said with a laugh. "I won't."

He waited for an opening in the traffic and turned the SUV to the right into an unusually decent looking parking garage.

"Wow," Riley commented. "It doesn't even smell bad in here. Ben, are you sure I look okay? I'm wearing my Cons, you know…"

"It's fine, Riley," Ben insisted as he got out of the car. "You just need to look and act like yourself…not that it really matters. You're already hired."

"Oh," Riley muttered. He dashed around the front of the car to Ben's side. "Wait, so I'm supposed to impress these people?"

"Well, Ian is paying for your lunch." Ben handed his keys to a valet who thanked him, called him sir, and passed him his ticket so he could get his car back later. Riley stared at the man, thinking to himself that'd he'd rather sit in a cubicle than park cars any day. Ben was already walking away and Riley hurried to catch up.

"Who's Ian?"

Ben nodded. "Ian Howe. He's the financier for the treasure hunt. He's got unlimited resources, a group of guys willing to help us, a good attitude, oh, and best of all he's enthusiastic about American history."

"Yeah, sure," Riley grumbled. "I'll bet you guys get along just great."

Ben led Riley into the elevator and up to the main floor where the restaurant was located. At the entrance a man asked them for their reservation, Ben gave it and was informed that the rest of the party was already seated. He led them to their round table and Riley was glad he didn't give his sneakers, dark jeans, and ruffled button down shirt a second glance.

"Gates," a smooth, accented voice said. The blonde man speaking stood in greeting as did the two sitting to his right. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about your own plans."

"Sorry Ian," Ben said as he shook the man's hand. "We hit a little traffic on the way into the city."

"Ah, yes. It seems traffic is unavoidable, regardless of the time of day." Riley wanted to snigger at the man's accent, but thought better of it when Ian turned his attention to him. "I take it that this is your computer savvy friend?"

Ben nodded proudly and put a hand on Riley's shoulder. "This is Riley Poole. Riley, that's Ian, Shaw, and Powell." The other two men—one bald and one older—nodded as they were addressed and shook Riley's hands. They all had very strong grips, Riley noted. Especially the bald one. Riley suddenly felt very small with his weak handshake and his stature that made him at least a head shorter than the other four men.

Ben took a seat at the table and Riley followed suit, taking the empty chair between Ben and the man known as Powell.

"I've taken the liberty of ordering us a bottle of the finest Chardonnay this establishment had to offer," Ian stated. He turned to Riley and raised an eyebrow. "You are old enough to have a drink, aren't you?"

"Oh, yeah," Riley said quickly. "Totally. And I love…whatever it was you ordered."

Ian chuckled at that and even the man known as Powell had a small smile on his face. Shaw's expression hadn't changed from the angry, indifferent one that Riley could only assume was permanently etched into his features.

"I can tell you're going to be a lot of fun to have on our adventure," Ian said in a cheery voice that for some reason sounded very, very wrong to Riley's ears. The young man smiled at what he assumed was supposed to be a compliment before turning to Ben to see his reaction. But Ben was grinning obliviously at Ian and the promise of adventure.

The waiter returned and filled their wine glasses. Ben raised his to give a toast.

"To our now complete treasure hunting team and the adventure that awaits us."

They took turns clinking their glasses together before sipping down their drinks. Ben smiled warmly at Riley, who grinned back. Any nervousness he'd felt at meeting new people was dashed as conversation and food were had in plenty. Riley even cracked the occasional joke. Things were looking good, and Riley couldn't wait to embark on their treasure hunting adventure.

Adventure, indeed…

END.

And now, as promised, a highly detailed, kinda lengthy trailer that I spent waaay too much time thinking about…

Green screen:

The following PREVIEW has been approved for ALL AUDIENCES by the Motion Picture Association of America.

Cuts to a completely black, very ominous scene. After a second a generic cell phone jingle can be heard once…

Bold white letters fade in and out of the blackness as they are read by a serious sounding announcer voice:

"On a seemingly normal day…"

Phone rings a second time…

"…a single phone call could change everything..."

On the third ring the scene comes up to reveal the rumbling, high tech phone device on a desk while an out of focus sleeping figure suddenly jerks awake and reaches for it, only to fall with a crash out of bed and onto the floor off screen. A split second later an in focus Riley Poole pops up from the floor, bed sheets and all, to reach for the phone.

He doesn't even look at—he just grabs it and flips it open and puts it to his ear, looking surprised and maybe a little apprehensive as he lets out a quick but astonished:

"Hello?"

A slightly high pitched, cheery sounding female voice sounds through the other line:

"Riley, sweetheart…how're you doing?"

Riley groans:

"What do you want, ma?"

Side swipe changes the scene as cheery sounding whistling to the National Treasure theme song (if there is one) becomes the background music. The scene now cuts to various shots of Riley getting out of bed and starting his day as an announcer speaks above the music:

"Another adventure is all Riley Poole wants as he adjusts back into a mundane life..."

Cuts to a tow truck pulling away Riley's red Ferrari Spider appears behind a tow man who says into the camera:

"Yep, that back bumper's gonna cost ya…"

Cuts to a man in a suit sitting at a desk as he slams shut a copy of Riley's book and says into the camera:

"No one wants you to write another book…"

Cuts to Ben Gates who is sitting with Abigail Chase on his lap while they kiss. He pulls his head away for a second to look at the camera:

"Sorry, Riley…page 47 is just gonna have to wait…"

Ben grins and winks at the camera before making out with Abigail again.

Cuts to Riley looking miserable while he walks down a sidewalk with his hands in his pockets while the announcer voice resumes commentating:

"But excitement doesn't quite come the way he wants it to…"

A tall dark figure approaches Riley from behind and asks in a gruff voice:

"Mr. Riley Poole?"

Riley stares back at the unfamiliar man:

"Uh, yeah…"

Screen suddenly goes black as the cheery music abruptly ends. Scene comes up again to reveal Riley on the ground with his arms behind him panting with a pained expression on his face while blood pours out of his nose:

"Ah, God…it was just a joke…"

A fist flies in from off screen and hits Riley in the face.

Cuts to black for an extended period of time as announcer voice says dramatically:

"…as a simple misunderstanding can lead to a world of hurt."

Scene comes back to show a flabbergasted Riley in the passenger seat of a fast moving car:

"So you're telling me that these crazy, terrorist guys think I'm you?!"

Quick shot of Riley standing behind a tall, beautiful but grim looking dark haired woman wielding a gun before cutting back to Riley in the car as he says:

"If this really is some kind of joke, I gotta admit it's pretty darn good."

The woman, who is driving the car, says seriously:

"Riley this isn't a joke…"

A shakily filmed scene of Riley and the woman running for their lives. A large man chasing them appears on screen as he catches up to Riley, grabs Riley's arm and yanks it backwards. The scene cuts to black just before Riley screams. Woman's voice over:

"They're going to kill us both…"

Overhead shot of Riley and the woman with their hands handcuffed behind them being forced forward at gun point by a dangerous looking pair of men. Short black scene while voice over continues:

"…unless we can kill them first."

Quick shot of the woman slamming her fist into a bigger guy's face.

Cuts to a montage of more quick random scenes to some exciting action movie music while the announcer voice says boldly:

"Action!"

A small red car zooms head on into the side of a black van. Said van is forced off the road and starts rolling down a hill.

"Suspense!"

A large, bald man with a scar on his cheek cracks his knuckles as he bears down on a frightened and cowering Riley.

"Romance!"

From bust up lying on their backs in bed and shown in profile, a shirtless Riley and the woman kiss passionately.

Scene explodes in a giant fireball before revealing the words:

Her Middle Name Was Boom

Another explosion fills the screen, then:

Coming to the World Wide Web this October

Fire fads into a scene of the woman in the driver's seat of fast moving car glancing over in bewilderment at Riley who yells insanely with a laugh:

"Did you hear that, Benjamin Franklin Gates? I said you got me! Haha, good one man! You win, alright? I concede!"

Cuts to black, and the trailer is over.

Barely two and a half minutes of footage were shown, and already people in the theater are all like "oh man I have no idea what was going on but I can't wait to see it!"

Now I know October seems far away, but I just want to give myself some time to get back into routine school/work stuff. You guys can check my profile for further schedule details :)

And hell…maybe if you guys are all enthusiastic about the story, I'll get enthusiastic about it, and I'll be able to write faster and post sooner rather than later…maybe. I've been kinda, eh, bummed out with writing as of late and a little encouragement (or even constructive criticism) is always nice.