Author's Note: This is my first National Treasure fic, I've always wanted to write one since I saw both of the movies. My problem however was that for the life of me I cannot complete a fic, the solution? A one-shot, it was so simple I wondered how come I didn't consider it before...Okay maybe I did consider it but all my ideas were poop, that's right I said poop. But here it is! Woot! Well, that's all I've got to say...yup.
Summary: Extra! Extra! Read all about it, Father and Son treasure hunting duo! ... Wait, what!
Disclaimer: I own National Treasure, I don't see what the big deal is, I thought everyone here owned it on DVD...Oh! I must have misunderstood. But on the serious side, I do not nor shall I ever own National Treasure. Although I have read many stories here, and if you see something that is even mildly familiar, I apologize and please tell me.
Tabloids
The Gates household was rarely if ever silent since the discovery of Cibola. The house was always buzzing with some sort of noise, whether it was an argument between Abigail and Ben or Riley decided to set off their alarm because he was bored. Usually it was the phone that was the main source of noise. There always seemed to be someone calling because they wanted to talk to the famous treasure hunter or requested his presence at a gala or the grand opening of some museum exhibit. Today was different, Abigail was in Boston, there was no Riley in sight, and the phone was silent. Ben had the house to himself and was able to do whatever he pleased and currently that something was sleeping on the couch with the television quietly humming a Civil War documentary.
Benjamin Gates was dreaming of the day he and the others discovered Cibola, as he had done many times before. These dreams never remained the same, sometimes his dreams were nightmarish, Mitch killing Abigail, his parents remaining trapped never able to find their son, or the balance platform coming apart except instead of Ben being on it Riley was but he wasn't saved. Other times these dreams were pleasant, no Mitch and no flooding. This time, his dream was just downright weird; there were monkeys. Ben's face scrunched together as he drifted back to full consciousness that was when he heard a familiar voice whispering into his ear.
"You love monkeys, you want to buy Riley a monkey, you love monkeys," and it continued.
Ben opened a single eye, "Riley I am not buying you a monkey." His friend smiled sheepishly as he stood up from his crouching position beside the couch.
"I figured it couldn't hurt to try." Riley said while he shoved Ben's legs off of the couch nearly causing the treasure hunter to fall off the couch completely. Riley either did not notice or he chose to ignore it completely because he sat down next to the still groggy Ben.
"Not to be rude or anything, but what are you doing here?" Ben asked noticing for the first time the familiar open laptop on his coffee table. "How long have you been here?"
Riley's lips pressed together forming a line, "Not long, I got tired of sitting on the floor so I thought it was time for you to wake up,"
"You know there are three other chairs to sit in." Ben informed gesturing towards said chairs. Riley merely scoffed at them.
"Yeah, but this is my spot," Riley stated. It was true; he sat in the exact same spot every time he was over. Ben knew better than to take his spot on the couch and Abby learned that lesson after a few incidents occurred.
"You still didn't answer my first question." Ben said pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Oh right, well with Abigail gone I figured that we could have a sleep over, stay up late gossiping, braid each other's hair, eat Bon-"
"Riley," Ben cut in giving Riley a tired glare.
Riley gave Ben a sideways glance and sighed, "All right, I was at my place doing some, err, less then legal things when I noticed that you made headlines again."
"So? That isn't new."
"Trust me this time it is." with a few taps on his keyboard Riley gently placed his laptop onto Ben's lap. Ben blinked at his friend in surprise, he could count the amount of times Riley let him touch the young technician's computer with one hand. Judging by the way Riley was worrying his lip he was still pretty uneasy about it.
Ben carefully pushed back the screen so that he could see the text better. If he wasn't worried about what Riley would have done to him Ben would have dropped the computer onto the floor once he read the title. Instead Ben chose to release a small gasp.
"Yeah, that's how I reacted when I saw it too."
Right across the screen in bold letters read, "Father and Son; Treasure Hunting Duo" Beneath the title was a picture of both him and Riley apparently taken near Mount Rushmore, underneath it in smaller print said; A source discloses that these two famous treasure seekers are actually biological father and son.
"Wha-, is this a joke?" Ben asked
Riley shook his head, "Nope and that," he pointed at the screen "is not the only site with that article."
Ben glanced up at the address to see what the website was that had this odd headline, "Riley this is National Inquirer, all their news is lies and more lies."
"Lies or not people eat this kind of stuff up, they live for this type of gossip, they're like parasites." Riley said resting his head against the back of the couch.
Ben gave a faint snort while he pushed the scroll button.
Benjamin Gates is known as our own Indiana Jones, with the discovery of the Templar Treasure and his latest find Cibola; the city of gold, Gates has earned himself a place in history books as being one of the most successful treasure hunters this century, perhaps even this millennium. With his girlfriend, Abigail Chase, Gates is living a comfortable life in Washington D.C.
But what about his assistant Riley Poole? Poole has been credited with both discoveries as well, but for the most part Poole remains in the shadows. However with a discovery of or own Poole may be brought into the lime light. Why? Well, the Templar Treasure and Cibola may have been a father-son find.
An undisclosed source has revealed to the media that Benjamin Gates is in fact Riley Poole's biological father. Skeptics may state that is impossible but we have proof. For the most part Poole's life has remained a mystery, but after many labored hours of research and the aid of our source we have been able to shed some light on his life.
Less than a month old, Riley Pole was discovered on the steps of Catholic Church in Pennsylvania. Poole was adopted by a young couple, Michelle and Erik Poole-
Ben paused in his reading to look at Riley, "You were adopted?"
Riley's face flushed slightly in embarrassment, "Oh right," he grasped Ben's shoulder, "Ben I have something to tell you, I'm adopted, now give me my computer." he finished while reaching for his computer.
Ben jerked it away nearly sending Riley into a panic attack, "I haven't finished it yet."
Riley attempted to save his computer once more, "I'll summarize it for you, give it."
"No," Ben held the laptop out of arms reach.
"Give it back!" Riley demanded launching himself at Ben, his hands reaching out for the computer. He was still a tad short and all he did accomplish was ending up in Ben's lap.
"Why do you want it back so much?"
"Because it's my computer," Riley stated his arms flailing trying to reach his computer, "Which you'll never be able to touch again."
"I already figured that."
Riley stopped his attempts with a defeated groan dropping his head into the couch, "Fine" he grumbled pulling himself back into his spot, "Read it."
Ben cast one more odd look at Riley before starting where he left off.
Riley Poole lived with Michelle and Erik Poole until he was six years old. While he was at his babysitter's home, Poole's adopted parents were involved in a deadly car crash, Michelle Poole died at the scene while Erik Poole died on his way to the hospital. With no family wanting to care for Poole as their own Riley Poole was left without a home.
It was not until he was eight was Riley Poole placed with a foster family. Except for Riley Poole, the nightmare was just beginning. For three years Poole was neglected and abused by his foster parents, Haley Schroeder and William Karsen. The couple was charged with child abuse and is currently free on parole. Poole was shuffled through the legal system until at the age of sixteen records on Poole disappeared and he became a 'ghost'. That is until he met Benjamin Gates.
The coincidence of Benjamin Gates being Riley Poole's father may be too farfetched to believe for the public. Here at the National Inquirer we thought the same until we were given hard evidence by our source. Confident that her name will remain unknown our source has disclosed that she is in fact Riley Poole's biological mother. After spending many hours to ensure that our source was telling the truth we can with full confidence say that our source was telling the truth.
Ben stopped reading believing that he had read enough, "You-, why didn't you tell me any of this?" he asked, having to read a gossip article in order to find more about his friend's life was not exactly how Ben would have liked it.
"Ben I know you're obsessed with history, but some things from the past are not meant to be uncovered." Riley sighed.
"That doesn't answer my question."
Riley made a small noise that sounded very much like a growl, "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to know and I didn't want to talk about it."
"So all of this," Ben tapped the screen, "Is true?"
"More or less." Riley said snatching his computer back before Ben could try to stop him, not that he even would. After a few moments Riley closed his Apple and placed it back inside of its case, but not before checking to make sure that Ben had done no damage to it first.
"Riley, that article said that it was your mother that told them all that." Ben prompted. Riley shook his head while rolling his eyes.
"Yeah I know, I read it too Ben."
Ben shook his head, he didn't understand why Riley was being difficult about this, then again there were plenty of times that Ben didn't understand Riley at all. That was just part of being his friend. During the first months of Ben and Riley working together, Ben was lucky to get Riley to talk about his past. He did get a few snippets such as Riley being from Virginia originally and that his parent's names were Erik and Michelle, at least the article got that much right. But what about the rest?
"Do you think it's true?"
Riley rubbed the back on his neck closing his blue eyes briefly then opened them to meet Ben's gaze. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was her."
It was the way that Riley said this that caught Ben's attention. How Riley's voice almost sounded strained as the words left his lips clued Ben in that Riley knew what he was saying was the truth. "Do you know who your mother is?"
Riley shrugged, "You could say that."
"Who is-?"
"When is Abigail coming back?" Riley asked suddenly looking around the room as if Abigail would suddenly jump out of nowhere.
"Not for a few days why-"
Riley jumped off the couch stopping Ben from finishing his sentence. Ben watched with a bemused expression as Riley bounded off towards the kitchen. "Riley!" he shouted while he got up from the couch to follow his friend.
The kitchen was one of Abigail's most favorite places in the Gates household. Whenever Abigail was bored she liked to experiment in the kitchen. Sometimes the outcome were delectable other times Ben sacrificed Riley and found the best place to hide in order to avoid any sampling that would occur. As Ben stepped into the kitchen he saw no sign of Riley.
"Riley are you in here?" he called walking up to the marble topped counter that was in the middle of the kitchen.
"Got it!" a mob of brown hair popped up from the opposite side of Ben. In his hand Riley held up a bag full of small object wrapped in brightly colored foil.
"Is that?" Ben trailed off unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Abby's 'hidden' stash of chocolate? Sure is, I've been waiting for the right time to take it, you want one?" Riley offered while he jumped onto the counter. His legs began to swing carelessly over the edge.
"You know you're not supposed to be on the counter." Ben said almost like he was scolding a toddler, which was almost correct.
"That's what Abby says but she isn't here." Riley said, unwrapping a chocolate before plopping it into his mouth. Ben looked over his shoulder then sighed. Riley grinned widely as he watched Ben heave himself onto the counter before reaching into the bag bringing out a few chocolates.
"If she finds out, no, when she finds out you better have a good excuse." Ben advised ripping back the foil.
"And just like last time I'll blame you." Riley smirked.
Ben suddenly recalled an event that occurred about a month ago. Abigail was giving him the silent treatment the whole day, whenever Ben asked what he did wrong she would look at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and stalking away. Well, at least he knew what the cause of it was now.
As Ben watched Riley unwrap another chocolate Ben began to think about the article again. The idea that he was Riley's biological father was very outlandish. As far as he knew none of his past girlfriends were ever pregnant. Then again, a small part of Ben told him that it wasn't such an unbelievable idea. Riley was his friend and since the first day he met Riley all those years ago Ben felt in some situations that he had to protect Riley, almost like a maternal urge. Ben's thoughts drifted back towards the balance platform, Riley was going to willingly stay behind while the others continued. It wasn't until after Ben was home did he realize that he could have lost Riley. That was about the time that some of the nightmares began.
Something bouncing off his nose broke Ben's train of thought. Shaking his head Ben's eyes flickered over to Riley who was getting ready to flick another wrapper.
"What?"
"You had that look in your eyes." Riley said flicked the wrapper at Ben, this time in hit Ben between his eyes.
"What look?"
Riley scratched his head, "Well, it was actually a mix of the I-going-to-kidnap-the-president look and the oh-no-we're-going-to-drown look."
"I was thinking." Ben explained.
"I've noticed that when you do that, someone comes close to dying."
"That's funny, hilarious." Ben remarked sarcastically flicking his own wrapper at Riley.
"Okay then what were you thinking about?" Riley asked rubbing the spot that the wrapper hit him; just above his right eye.
"The article." these two words caused Riley to cringe.
"Look Ben, I wouldn't worry about it too much, it's like you said they post nothing but lies and more lies."
"But it's not all lies is it?" Ben locking Riley with his eyes.
"Okay maybe not, but Ben, you're," Riley stopped mid-sentence his hands beginning to clench, "Ben, you're not my father all right, that much they were lying about."
For some reason when Riley stated that Ben was not his father, Ben felt as if something stabbed him in the heart. "I know," Ben said softly, "But what about the other things, you're parents dying in the crash, you're foster parents."
"Yes my parents died in a car crash and yes I was left with these two people during a time that I wish I could forget, now can we drop this and do something fun like leave a cold glass of water on one of Abigail's tea tables without a coaster?" Riley nearly begged.
If Riley was suggesting such a life threatening activity than he really wanted to avoid this conversation but Ben wasn't going to let him off that easily. "I'm sorry Riley, but I'm having a hard time accepting that I had to learn about you're past through National Inquirer."
"How do you think I feel Ben?" Riley nearly shouted, "I've tried to keep my life quiet because I didn't want anyone to know because I knew what was going to happen. They would give me the same look that you gave me when you read that damn article."
"What are you talking about?" Ben asked confused, he wasn't even aware that Riley had been watching him read.
"You know what I'm talking about, when you looked at me you had pity in your eyes. Pity." Riley spat, "I didn't want to talk to you or anyone with the memory of what I've lived through lingering in the back of your head because then you would just stare at me like I was some kicked puppy."
Ben was shocked, he rarely, if ever, saw Riley react this way, "Riley," Ben breathed unsure what else to say. The younger slid off the counter.
"And now everyone knows." Riley choked out, he turned to Ben the corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "I guess there is a bright side to being a footnote, a lot of people are probably asking who I am."
A footnote, that was what Riley used to refer to himself as. Whenever he, Abigail, and Riley went to a function most people obviously knew who Ben was but they didn't know who Riley was. Time after time the young technician would say that if anyone was going to write a biography on Ben's life that he would be a footnote, nothing else. Ben would always counter back that that wasn't true, he was more than just some side note. In turn Riley would smile and chuckle.
Riley leaned against the counter while Ben remained sitting on the counter top. They remained silent, neither sure what to say next. With a sigh Ben pushed himself off to stand beside Riley deciding to make the first move.
"You said that you wouldn't be surprised if your mother was the source." Ben began slowly hoping this would prompt a response out of Riley. The younger turned his head and blinked at Ben obviously knowing what the treasure hunter was up to.
Mind as well tell him now and get it over with, Riley thought, "During my second year at MIT, I just," he stopped for a moment, "I wanted to know who my parents were, I guess I was tired of not knowing where I came from, cause all I knew was that my parents didn't want me and left me at a church's doorstep."
Riley gave a short laugh, "My adopted parents, they didn't name me Riley actually, when the priest nun person found me I was apparently wrapped in a blanket with Riley stitched into it. Looking up the name 'Riley' when going through birth certificates from 1980 is pretty easy, it didn't take too long before I found it, my birth certificate"
"My dad's name wasn't on, only hers, Susanne Jones." Ben felt his breath catch in his throat at the mention of Riley's mother, Riley didn't notice because he continued. "She was born and lived in Washington until she was sixteen when she moved to Pennsylvania. She was pregnant with me at the time, so I guess I can't blame her for not wanting to raise me, she was only a teenager. After I was born I found that she attended college back in Washington but she was expelled for drug possession, it pretty much went downhill from there. She was arrested a few years later for the same reason, stayed in jail for only a year though."
"Wasn't the first time, except the next time she was arrested was for both having and selling the stuff, she went back to jail and stayed there longer. The last time I looked it up she was still in jail, now she's out, she must have seen me on television or read about the treasure and figured she could make some money." Riley finished a ghost of a smile playing on his lips, "Riley Jones, that just sounds weird."
Susanne Jones, Ben had heard that name before, it brought back a hazy memory of his old high-school. He was with a girl with dark brown hair, just like Riley's but they didn't share the same eye color, her eyes were hazel. As Ben pondered the name and the girl behind it he was only dully aware of Riley waving his hand in front his face.
"Ben? Earth to Ben." Riley's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he watched his friend's thoughtful face mostly because this wasn't the normal thoughtful look Riley had become accustomed to over the years. "Hey look a map to the Holy Grail!"
Nothing, so much for his fall back, the only reaction he got was Ben running a hand through his hair. Well, just as he took advantage of Abigail absence Riley was going to take advantage of Ben's lack of attention. "Well, I'm just going to go look at what page 47 is." He waited to see if Ben was going to do anything and when he didn't Riley ran for Ben's study.
Though it took a few moments Riley saying page 47 broke Ben out of his thoughts. "No you're not." Ben noticed that he was talking to an empty room, "Riley!" he bellowed running where he knew that the young man would more than likely to be.
Ben's study, as of late, had taken the look that a tornado had touched down. Books that were normally perched on shelves had been taken down and were placed haphazardly throughout the room. Papers covered his desk, by now Ben couldn't remember what it was made out of. Though, Riley riffling through them wasn't helping his mess any.
"Riley." Ben's tone was low almost dangerous.
"Riley is busy at the moment, please leave a message after the beep, beeep." Riley muttered flipping through a notebook.
"Stop going through my research."
"No, if you won't tell me what you've been doing the last two months I'll just find out myself." Riley said picking up a piece of paper tilting his head to the side as he looked at it, finally with a shrug he tossed it over his shoulder.
Ben saw that wasn't the first paper that Riley dropped on the floor, with a small growl Ben closed the distance between him and Riley. "If you do this again I'm going to lock the door." Ben grabbed Riley's shoulder with one hand and took a paper out of Riley's hand with the other placing it back onto the table then steered Riley out of his study.
"Joke's on you, I can pick locks." Riley smirked looking up at Ben his eyes contained a spark of mischief.
Damn it Ben swore, he forgot that the computer hacker could also pick door locks as well, were any of his possessions safe? "So how come you never tried to contact your mother?" Ben asked deciding he should return to the previous topic so he could avoid any questions about what was on page 47.
The spark disappeared, "I've thought about it, visiting her while she was in jail or going to her home, that is when she used to have one. But I could never do it because she isn't my mom and it shouldn't be my task to find her, if she wants to meet me then I'm going to leave that to her."
Ben thought about telling Riley that he knew his mother from high-school for a second before deciding against it. He would wait to tell his young friend when he remembered why he knew her. "Well, come on I think there's still some of Abby's chocolate left over."
Riley snorted, "I'm past that, I'm going to hit her secret stash of cookies." As if the topic of his mother never came up Riley's face broke out into a wide grin before he ran back into the kitchen.
"What secret stash of cookies?" Ben called after Riley now he was really confused, since when did Abby have a stash of cookies?
In the end Riley got his sleepover, minus the gossiping, braiding of hair, and eating Bon-Bons of course. Instead they opted to watch a Star Trek marathon, but that only was after Riley literally wrestled the remote out of Ben's hands. After two episodes Ben didn't see the point why Riley was so adamant about watching the show if he was only going to fall asleep.
It wasn't until that he heard Riley's quiet snore did Ben remember his high-school yearbook that laid forgotten on one of the highest shelves in his study. Careful not to jostle Riley, Ben stood up from the couch and made his way to his study. For maybe the first time in his life Ben paid no mind to his piles of research while he stepped on the papers that Riley had previous discarded onto the floor.
On the top shelf, gathering dust, Ben made out the familiar burgundy cover of one of his old yearbooks. His height made it easy for Ben to wrap his fingers around the spine and take it off the shelf. When was the last time he even glanced at this book? He couldn't recall and now he was looking at it for reasons he would have never foreseen.
Ben brushed his fingertips across the cover smearing what little dust was there. The golden fringe letters spelling out Woodrow Wilson High School 1982, this was the year book of his senior of his high school days flashed through his mind, he was nearly lost in his thoughts before he remembered why he was here in the first place. Shaking his head Ben quickly flipped through the pages careful to avoid any paper cuts.
He ran his hand across the marble white page with pictures of his class mates and there it was, a small picture near the bottom of the page. It was a picture of him, a younger him, sitting on a park bench, perhaps during the lunch period, Ben couldn't remember. But that wasn't important, what was important was the girl that sat next to him. The photo may be in black and white, but it was enough.
Susanne Jones, she only attended Woodrow Wilson for only two months then moved away without a single word to anyone. However, for those couple of months, she and Ben dated. It wasn't a close relationship, Ben recalled that they shared plenty of commonalities and they enjoyed each other company. But she broke up with him, in fact she broke up with him soon after they-.
Ben felt a jolt go down his spine as realization struck. He began to calculate a range of numbers, trying to find some error, of any kind.
Riley was twenty-six, which meant that Riley had to be born in, in 1982. Susanne left Woodrow in October, Riley was born during the month of June, at least that was what he had told Ben.
It couldn't be, it was, well, it was improbable. What were the chances that by mere happenstance, Ben would meet, would meet his own son.
Ben didn't know how long he sat in his study, just thinking, his eyes staring at nothing. He couldn't move, at least he didn't want to move. Why didn't Susanne tell him? Why did she instead move away? Ben deserved to know for heaven's sake! He deserved to know that he had a son, that he was a father! He didn't deserve to learn this way and neither did Riley.
Riley. He still didn't know, but Ben didn't know whether he should tell Riley the truth. After a few moments contemplation, Ben knew what he had to do.
The television was still on when Ben reentered the living room. Riley adjusted himself so that he lying comfortably on the couch. Seeing the younger man sleeping peacefully, as he walked over to the couch, Ben decided that it could wait till morning.
Gently, Ben eased Riley off of the couch, careful not to wake Riley from his deep slumber. Carefully, Ben sat down before lowering Riley back down, so that the younger man's head rested in his lap. Riley didn't stir, the only thing that hinted towards him noticing the movement was a small noise. With a small smile Ben began to thread his finger through Riley's hair, his smile grew as Riley made another, more content noise. Usually the young man would glare at anyone who would dare to even ruffle his hair.
They remained that way for the rest of the night, Ben falling asleep a few hours in. Even with less sleep, he managed to wake before Riley. At first, he couldn't recall anything from the day before, but that was only for a few blissful seconds. Soon everything came rushing back to him and he remembered what he still had to do.
"Mmph," Riley stirred slightly, his eyes opened everything slowly coming into focus. His mouth stretched open as he yawned rolling onto his back as he did. "Um, morning Ben." This is awkward.
"Morning Riley," Ben returned the greeting.
With a small grunt Riley pushed himself upwards, adjusting until he was sitting beside the famed treasure hunter. He felt awkward sitting next to him, never having woken up sleeping in someone's lap before.
"Riley,"
The younger man looked over at Ben, an eyebrow quirking upward. The treasure hunter's lips were pursed together, "Yeah Ben?"
"I have to tell you something."
End
Final Thought: I don't know if I used too much detail, too little detail, or my detail just sucks. But, anyways, I hope I did okay for my first National Treasure fic. Also, for any curious readers, this would take place in 2008, Ben would be like forty-three because I figured in 1974 the actor who played young Ben would be around 10, so. Okay I did a lot of math trying to make this work and my worst subject high school is just that, math.
But yay! I finally finished something! I think I should do another chapter but I don't know so I'm not labeling this as complete, yet. Anyways thanks for reading and until next time this is Prodigious Discourse signing out.