Author's note: This is based on the movie National Treasure, and is to some extent dedicated to the worthy performance of Sean Bean. I enjoyed the move very much, but I thought that since Ben and Ian often used similar methods to reach the same goal, I did not see one of them as more evil than the other. I also thought that the hints of the friendship we saw between them should be explored more. So here it is, what I think should happen.
Big thanks to Forever Faramir who turned my spelling errors into actual correct words, not an easy task.
Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure. I just borrowed it because I like Sean Bean as an actor. I will return all characters in good and whole order, completely undamaged, if covered with a slight glue residue from having been put together again. I also swear I will not make any serious attempt at stealing Ian.
/Elenhin
Who Did You Say Stole the Declaration of Independence?
Ian Howe was not nervous, that in itself was not unusual. He was rarely nervous and he was rarely taken by surprise. You could surprise him, but he adapted to new situations very quickly, so it was very hard to keep him surprised. He was always able to think of some solution. He could always find a way out.
Granted he had been outsmarted a few times, very few times, but it had happened, and that was why he was now in custody at a police station. They had taken him, but he had no intention of staying for very long. He had every intention of forcing the police to release him again, and he could do it.
Ian Howe was very intelligent. Ben had known that, he had even claimed that their problem was that Ian was very smart, he just did not know how smart Ian really was. Just because they had actually managed to send Ian off to Boston, and he had been taken by the police there, they now believed that they had outwitted Ian.
Not so, Ian knew some things that they did not know. He had been involved with the police before. He knew their regulations, and he knew how to use them in his favour.
By now most men would have insisted on getting a lawyer. Ian did not need one, he knew the rules and regulations as well as they did, and he would not advice himself to just admit his guilt. Lawyers always did that, advised you to just admit your guilt. Apparently they thought that it was easier that way, but he was not about to do that.
After the first time he was arrested as a juvenile he had studied the system, what a court could do and what it could not do. For the moment they were about to try and do some of the things they could not do. If no one objected they could even get away with it.
Well, he was about to object, and then they would be powerless to do anything about it.
He was even now sitting at the table in the interview room and looked utterly relaxed and unfazed by his situation. In a few moments he would have company, and then he would inform them about the current situation. They believed that they were the ones who called the tune, and that he would dance to it. Not so, he would tell them what the situation was really like, and they would dance to the tune of his pipe.
They could send him to prison, oh they could actually do that easily, but he could take them with him just as easily. So it would be up to them, if he went, they all went.
Ian had in his possession a copy of Ben's statement, he was not supposed to have that, but that had never stopped him before. He also had a few other copies that would prove valuable. Things that would make rather nice evidence if produced in court.
The door opened and he smiled as Ben, Riley and Abigail entered. Abigail looked non to pleased, Riley looked about as nervous as he always did, and Ben, he just looked curious. He was curious, and Ian knew that because Ben had never been able to hide anything for Ian.
"What a pleasure to see you." Ian grinned. "I hear you managed to find the treasure Ben, good work."
"What do you want, Ian?" Ben asked.
Ian gestured to the other chairs. "I think that you should know something first Ben." He waved a hand of to the mirror on the wall. "We are being watched, for your safety of course." He smirked. "So you can relax, there shall be nothing I can do to harm you. So there is no need for you to look quite so terrified Riley." He added that in a teasing voice, teasing the very nervous looking Riley. "There are however no one listening. There will be no recording of our conversation, it is entirely private."
"What do you want, Ian?" Ben repeated as he sat down. Giving Abigail a reassuring look as he did so. There was nothing that Ian could do to them, he was sure of that. There would be surveillance, and even beside that fact, Ian was honourable to a point.
"I heard that the one thing that you did not want, was going to prison." Ian said. He was looking a bit more relaxed than Ben would have thought possible for anyone in custody. He himself would never have been able to look that relaxed, and Riley was actually looking far more nervous than Ian was.
"That's right, Ian. I do not want to go to prison." Ben nodded his agreement. Abigail and Riley had said that they should not have agreed to Ian's request to meet with him. Yet after everything that had happened during the treasure hunt there was still some part of Ian that Ben liked. They had grown to know each other during the first part of the search, and had things been different, he was positive they could have stayed friends.
The main problem was that where Ben had been taught to respect law and order Ian had never had anyone to teach him the same. Ian had begun his criminal career as a means of basic survival, and it was sheer luck that he had just happened to be good at it. Then even after he had turned more respectable, well, even the best could suffer a relapse.
"It should not come as a surprise to you then Ben, that neither does I."
Ian looked as confident as ever, but now Ben could detect something in his eyes. Ian knew what prisons were like. He knew because he had experienced it first hand. It was no pleasant to put it mildly, and therefore he wanted to avoid it.
"I'm sorry Ian." Ben told him, and he truly was. "But I know of no other way. I'm sorry, but there seems to be no other option."
"Not so Ben, there is always another option if you can find it, and I can." Ian smiled faintly. "I know of another way. I need some things from you for it though."
"Why should we help you?" Abigail demanded. She had no liking for Ian. Under different circumstances she could easily have admired his intelligence and wits, but as things stood, she considered it a near-crime that he had ever used those traits for illegal activities.
"Let us just say that it would be in your interest." Ian told them smiling softly. "And do not think I would stop so lowly as threatening you, Abigail. I've got standards."
"And we have all seen those." Riley snorted.
Ian ignored him, Riley was to single minded to understand certain things. He could never look past certain things to see the bigger pictures, he was limited by his own vision of the smaller one, the one right in front of him. "Are you wiling to listen to me Ben?" He asked.
Ben nodded. "How would you get out of it Ian? I would not have thought that even you could get out of a mess like this one."
"Oh, it's not easy Ben, and I can not get out of all of it, as you express it, but I can do a bit of damage control. I can eliminate enough charges so that it no longer means prison." Ian took one of the papers he had in front of him. "What I need you to do Ben, is to change this."
Ben took the paper and studied it, it was a copy of his testimony. How had Ian been able to get a copy of that, he dismissed the thought as soon as he thought it. This was Ian in front of him, Ian, and Ian had his ways of doing those things. "Why should I do that?" He asked. He had to admit that he was curious. What did Ian think that he could say to make him withdraw his accusations. Also, how would changing his testimony get Ian out of prison.
"It is not what I think that I can say, Ben. It is what I can say." Ian smiled. His ability to know exactly what Ben was thinking was still slightly creepy, Ian knew of the almost imperceptible shiver that ran down Ben's spine, he was in fact very aware of it. "It is what I can do, I told you I was not threatening you, and I won't. You have my word that that I won't threaten you, no matter if you agree or not, so I am not saying I will do it. But I am saying that I can do it should I want to."
"What is it you think you can do?" Abigail demanded.
"Not think. Can do." Ian corrected with a smile, after the speech he had just made even Abigail should know that by now. "What I can do, I can counter every one of these charges with enough for it to be a prison offence as well."
"You can?" Ben was surprised, and he knew he could not hide it.
"I can, and I'm not bluffing Ben. You can't bluff, I can, but I do not have to." He smiled again, a faint friendly smile, an honest one.
"Prove it." Abigail demanded.
"I think Ben, that this would go much smother if we were to do this private." Ian suggested.
Ben had to agree, if nothing else because Ian and he understood each other to a certain degree, then also because Riley and Abigail could be a bit hot tempered where Ian was concerned. Riley was all to eager to be given a reason to leave, and Abigail was fairly easily convinced.
"So how were you going to counter the charges?" Ben asked when they were alone.
"What are the charges Ben?" Ian asked giving him a warm smile. "Tell me the charges, and I shall tell you how I could counter them."
Ben gave him a wary look, which Ian saw and was quick to assure him.
"Could Ben, That is why this is not a threat, even if we do not agree, I'm not saying that I will press my own charges. I'm just saying that I, well…" He did not finish the sentence.
"Your just saying that you could." Ben finished for him. Ina was right, that was not a threat. It could have been, from someone else it would have been, bit nor from Ian.
"Attempted murder?" Ben began as he scanned through his statement.
"When?" Ian smiled. "Not aboard the Charlotte, that was self defence."
"You drew a gun." Ben stated.
"That was Shaw, and he paid dearly for his mistakes." Ian looked sad at the mention of Shaw, which was hardly a surprise. Ian's men had been nothing but loyal to each other and their boss.
"Answer me honestly Ian." Ben asked. "When you left us beneath the church, did you think that we would be able to find a way out?" Ben asked, hoping that Ian was not as cruel as he had appeared then.
Ian chuckled. "Ben, if anyone had been able to find a way out of there it would have been you." He told the other man. "I was merely hoping that it would take you enough time to find it for us to get ahead start. I knew as well as you do that no one would build a place like that without an escape route. Not to mention the fact that I found it hard to believe that they would build something like that and there would be nothing more to it than what we saw. There just had to be something more there Ben, especially with the slight draft that was there. No draft if there is not something more there, right Ben?"
"Then why did you follow the other clue?" Ben asked baffled, for this had to mean that Ian had figured out about the other chamber before even he himself did.
"Because I did not realise that the treasure was there, I forgot only one thing Ben, and that was the fact that only because you could not bluff even to save your life, it did not mean that your father could not."
Ben nodded. "What about kidnapping?" He went on.
"I can counter that, but your not going to like it all that much Ben." Ian sounded almost regretful, as if he was sorry for what he was about to say. "Shall we just say that I did nothing that you did not do yourself to some agree. Abigail did not follow you willingly at first either. And well…"
"I tied up my father myself." Ben finished for him, getting the point. After all Abigail had been running screaming from their van, Ian could easily claim that he had acted to aid her. Ian had certainly not done any move to actually harm her.
"You broke in to steal the declaration of Independence." Ben stated as the next offence.
"I went in, I got nothing." Ian nodded. "The thing there is that there is no evidence of me having ever been there." He grinned slightly. "There are no witnesses who saw us, we appear on no camera. You however was identified on tape. And you are the only one to witness that we were there as well. And since you were not there by legal means either, well." Ian's voice drifted off.
"I do not make the best witness since the question of how I came to be there would come up." Ben finished the sentence for him.
"Yes." Ian smiled almost apolitically. "It might not be mentioned from the beginning, but it would be something I would be rather forced to mention in my defence. I could not guarantee that it would be enough to free me."
"But it would certainly be enough to get me in there as well." Again Ben finished the sentence for him.
"I'm afraid it would Ben. You struck a deal with Sadusky, unfortunately an un partial court does not strike those deals."
"You have me convinced." Ben shrugged.
"Which means there is still the matter of a padlock." Ina grinned and it was a warm smile. "That is only a couple of dollars fine. Nothing much to bother about."
"And you want nothing more?" Ben frowned. "No half the treasure, no gigantic sum of money?"
"No Ben, I would not mind going back to where I started from." Ian shook his head lightly as he spoke. Then he grinned mischievously again. "I am willing to cut my loss for the investment I made, but I would not mind getting back to where I started after that. Your more cunning than you like to think Ben, and more like me then you'd care to admit."
"How do you mean." Ben could not think of any way he was like Ian when it came to criminal acts.
"All the fancy equipment you needed for your theft of the declaration. How did you get it." Ian gave him that teasing lopsided grin.
"I bought it from various sources." Ben coughed as he recalled a few not to legal deals.
"How did you pay for it Ben." Ian teased him. "I gave you a letter of authority for equipment we needed for finding the Charlotte. That letter specified that it should only be used for equipment for that expedition. Admit it Ben, that letter that gave you access to my account made getting all those things a lot easier."
"It made it a lot easier." Ben admitted guiltily. "I would not have been able to get half of the things we needed without that."
"I rather thought that was the case." Ian chuckled. "That was something Abigail out there is all to happy to think of me, but I do not think she believes you capable of it."
"I must have picked up a few of your traits when we were spending all that time with each other." Ben joked.
Surprisingly that made the amusement fade from Ian's eyes. "Be careful witch of my traits you allow to rub off on you Ben. You do not want to wind up where I am."
"I will be careful to avoid that." Ben said solemnly. "Ian why did you begin breaking the law? I mean the first time you committed a criminal act, why did you do it?"
"When the community tries to break you, it seems like a good option." Ian said ruefully. "You already know that you had examples that I lacked. I was turned out on my own in the world far too early. I knew what I was doing, I knew it was wrong. I knew that there were alternatives. But to me then it seemed better to break the law, than to wind up dependant on the charity of society." He looked up to meet Ben's eye. "I turned out to be good at it, and then it was easy to continue."
"Do you ever regretted making that choice?" Ben pressed on.
Ian shook his head, but he looked more thoughtful now. "No Ben. I do not. I do not regret it. I only regret a few turns down the line, but then, don't we all. Even if you count in where I am right now, on the whole it has been better than the alternative I had when I made my choice."
He looked up at Ben and the smile returned to his face. "But you do not want to know what that choice were. What you want to know is whatever I will go back to breaking the law, or if I will be respectable, like I was when we meet."
Ben nodded, that was the question he had been unable to ask outright. "What will you do Ian?"
Ian leaned back in his seat. "Difficult Ben. You know history well. When thieves were marked as thieves for all to see, why did they never reform?"
"Because they were never were given the means for it." Ben cited from memory. "They were marked for all to see, so no one would give them the chance to be honest. That meant they were not trusted to work, and so they went on stealing because it was that or starving."
"You know that I will be branded as the one who stole the declaration of Independence Ben." Ian spoke slowly. "I have every intention of being an honest citizen once more, but if it will be possible, I do not know."
Ben understood what he meant. The picture of the thief would be so well spread that everyone would know his face, and that would eliminate a lot of choices for Ian when it came to those things.
Ben fingered the paper in front of him. "If I changed this, then there would be no way for them to brand you."
"And then there should be nothing to keep me from being as respectable as I were before." Ian smiled again. "I've had my fill of treasure hunts. What I did before was mush safer."
"I will change my statement." Ben promised.
"I am grateful Ben." Ian said slowly.
"I think that you deserve it Ian." Ben said thoughtfully. "You know what prison is like, don't you?" He watched as Ian nodded his confirmation. "Abigail and Riley won't like it, but I think that you deserve it. You are not a bad man Ian, you just don't have any example of what a good man is like. I think that you need an example, and I would rather be that example, than the one who sent you to prison."
Ian leaned forward in his seat. "I will give you something Ben." He pushed another sheet of paper towards Ben. "If you ever think I stray, that I failed that chance and you regret giving it to me, then that paper you are holding now would be enough to send me off to prison in an instant. If you are willing to trust me, then I am willing to trust you."
Ben folded the paper without looking at it. The power to sending one man off behind bars was more power than one man should have."
"I think that we will see each other soon Ian." He said as he stood again. "Until then, take care of yourself."
"You to Ben."
As Ian watched Ben leave he felt something he had rarely felt before, he was nervous. Because he was not used to putting that kind of trust into people. He was not used to being trusted in that way. He would have trusted any of his men with his life, but that was different. They trusted each other with that. They relayed on each other. There was no reason for him to trust Ben Gates like that, and yet he did.
He would at least not have to stay where he was for very long. When Ben withdrew the charges they would have to let him go. There would be nothing that allowed them to hold him.
"Well, did you tell him no way?" Riley demanded when Ben was outside with them again.
Ben shook his head. "No, I agreed with him."
"Wait a second here." Riley gave him a nervous stare. "I thought you said that you agreed with him."
"I did." Ben told him.
"You said that?" Riley asked carefully.
"I agreed with him." Ben admitted. "Because he really did not do anything that we did not do ourselves, and because I think that Ian will never do anything like it again."
"People like Ian does not change, Ben" Abigail said silently, but with conviction.
Ben shook his head. "A few of them do. A few who never were all that bad in the first place, a few who never really enjoyed breaking the law."
"Okay, just one thing here." Riley held up his hands. "What is going to stop Ian from coming after us and stealing our money."
"I am sure that this would." Ben held up the paper Ian had given him.
"Ian would not be bothered about a paper." Riley pointed out.
"I think he would bother about this." Ben glanced at it. "He said that if I ever regretted giving him a new chance, this would be enough to have him behind bars in an instant."
"Cool." Riley said absently as he tried to take in the news.
"Let me see that." Abigail took the paper from his hands and scanned over it. "It probably would." She allowed as she handed it back to Ben. "I think he really gave you a 'send me to jail' card here."
"Ian does not bluff, he does not need to." Ben smiled faintly.
"So we let him get away with what he did, and then we'll never hear from him again." Riley said in a wishful tone.
"We are also going to give him back the money we stole from him." Ben said firmly. "He never made that a part of the deal, but he is right, we did steal the money we needed for the equipment from him. He should get it back."
"They gave us enough that we can do that." Abigail agreed. Not giving it back would be to become criminals themselves.
"And then we never see Ian again." Riley was afraid that he would not like the answer.
"I'm not sure about that one." Ben said thoughtfully. "Ian has skills we can use. He has knowledge we can use. And if we use it, we can keep an eye on him."
"Makes sense in an odd sort of way." Abigail admitted, thought not to eagerly. "You are out to reform him Ben. You still want to know if the two of you could have been friends."
"Yes." Ben admitted.
"If you think that he is worth that chance, then I will not argue, and neither will you Riley." She gave Riley a glare to let him know she was serious. "With that paper we have nothing to fear from Ian."
"We have nothing to fear from Ian, but no one should hold this power over another man." Ben took the paper and tore it up. Throwing it in a nearby waist bin. "If we can not trust Ian because it is Ian, then we should not pretend to."
Riley eyed the shreds of paper with an terrified expression, Abigail appeared to understand what he was saying.
"All right Ben, I am willing to trust him as much as you do."
Epilogue
Ian took a deep breath, it was great to be outside and be breathing the free air again. Better than he could describe. For several weeks the only time he had been outside was daily permitted time for those being held. A short time in a concrete yard with brick walls was not exactly his idea of fresh air. It felt wonderful beyond words to be outside again.
Ben who was standing beside him said nothing as Ian drew in one deep breath after another.
"What do you say Ian." Ben finally asked as he regarded the other man. Ian looked slightly different now, paler because he had been locked away indoors. Thinner because he had lost weight while locked up.
"What do I say about a respectable job in a museum. One where there would not be any temptations." Ian stroked his chin thoughtfully. "What does Riley say about having me so close.
"Something alone the line of, are you crazy, have you lost your mind. Are you going to allow him. If he just as much as comes near me…"
Ian chuckled at Ben's description.
"But Abigail told him to behave himself." Ben finished.
"And he agrees to it?" Ian asked, enjoying the sight of a bird flying over their heads.
"He agrees to it." Ben confirmed.
"Then I see no reason why I should not agree." Ian stuffed his hands into his pockets. "You have given me more than I asked for Ben. Much more."
"I know."
"What if you regret it? Ripping up the paper I mean." Ian said silently.
Ben looked surprised at the mentioning of the paper. He was however comforted by Ian's friendly chuckle.
"Have we not already established that I have my resources? I know these things Ben." He grinned. "I shall give you something else. I shall give you my word, that I shall do all in my power that you shall not regret your choice."
"That is what I wanted." Ben smiled. "I'd rather have you as a friend than have you in prison."
Ian smiled and extended his hand without a word. A silent offer made into clarity by the way the smile lit up his eyes. Ben smiled back and took the hand. They would become good friends, he knew it, and even Riley would eventually dare to trust Ian.
The End
Author's note, again: Please review and tell me your thoughts upon this, as I very much enjoyed writing it I would like to know if anyone enjoyed reading it.
Thank you all of you who read it.
/Elenhin