Fountain of Youth

Rated K+ for the occasional naughty word or two and adventure related violence.

Foreword

Took long enough, but I told you guys I'd be back :)

I don't think anyone's done this yet in the National Treasure fandom, but I've definitely read things like it in other places whilst browsing aimlessly. I was inspired by those and the fact that I was literally forced (due to utter boredom) to watch "17 Again" on a looong airplane flight last summer. As I recall it had Star Wars references and Thomas Lennon in it, so at least I was entertained somewhat. Anyway, crappy movies aside, I decided I wanted to write this, originally for an anthology of kid stories I was writing and have been writing since..."Cubicles." Or sometime around then. I don't remember.

See, the problem is when I start so many little things I tend to never getting around to really finishing anything, though the little things are waaay easier to finish than a multi chapter story (I am still sporadically working on a few of those). So if people are interested maybe I'll start posting the series of one shots next and then see where I get with the multi chapter fic afterwards. Sometimes I just need to know people are willing to read so I can force myself to finish stuff.

Anywho, read away and enjoy! Thanks much :)

Chapter I: The Mission

2008

"Now Ben—I don't want to sound like a broken record or anything, because I know you never listen to me when I say it every other time we do something crazy and or dangerous and or stupid, but I mean it this time when I say that I really, really, really don't think this is a good idea."

Riley Poole heard the older man groan, but Benjamin Franklin Gates did not even turn around to address his young friend directly when he said curtly, "well, you could always wait for us outside of the scary cave. By yourself. Where those crazy zealots are probably waiting to attack us. Again."

Riley paled as he recalled just how lucky they were to have gotten out of that last scuffle unharmed. Their rented SUV with the Florida plates on the other hand had not been so fortunate as it was reduced to a smoldering wreckage. And now that night was beginning to fall, he would be even more vulnerable to attack if he waited alone outside.

"Uh, no thanks," he finally said with an audible gulp. "I-I'll just stay with you guys."

"I thought you would."

They managed to walk single file through the tight rocky crevice of a cave on the Atlanta coast in silence for another few minutes before Riley's voice echoed around them once again.

"Hey, guys?"

Dr. Abigail Chase exhaled loudly from her position in the lead. Though she didn't say anything, it was clear that she too was starting to get very frustrated with the young man.

"What, Riley," Ben sighed.

"Do you really think those crazy cult dudes are still following us?"

"Most likely."

"Oh," Riley muttered. Peaceful silence lasted barely a half a minute this time. "So then aren't you worried about—"

Ben spun around to face his friend so quickly that Riley took a step back in surprise. "No," the older man said firmly. "I am not worried about the backwards religious nuts who are under the delusion that we are somehow tainting their holy land just by being here. I intend to find the supposed Fountain, document it, and get back home as soon as possible to catch up on the much needed sleep that I've been deprived of since we started this inane trip. And the more you interrupt and annoy us, the longer this whole thing is going to take. Got it?"

Riley's eyes widened at Ben's uncharacteristically harsh words and then narrowed defensively. "Oh," he said after a moment in a low voice. "Well I'm sorry you find me so annoying."

"Riley..." Ben closed his eyes and exhaled, wishing the aforesaid words had never even left his mouth. "You know I don't think you're—"

"Nope it's okay, I get it," Riley interrupted venomously. "I'll just stay quietly on the sidelines while you make another discovery and become famous. Again. After all, I'm just the lowly sidekick. Nobody ever wants to hear my opinion on anything..."

Abigail watched the two infuriated men stare each other down, wondering how things had gotten this tense so quickly. She half expected them to start laughing any second now, because really just the notion of them looking this close to an all out brawl was ridiculous. But neither of them even cracked a smile and Ben didn't unclench his white knuckled fists until she finally intervened by grabbing his arm.

"I know this has been a rough trip," she said as firmly as possible without actually yelling to get their attention out of fear that that would somehow set them both off. "We're all a little...high strung, and the last thing we need is to start letting it get to us. Now just shake hands or something and make up so we can keep going."

The tension was thick in the air for another minute before Ben finally sighed and complied with a tired-albeit very forced-smile.

"She's right, Riley," he said. "The sooner we get along and get this over with the better. I'm...very sorry I snapped at you."

He extended his hand in a friendly gesture and Riley turned his narrowed glare towards it. He looked back up at Ben with an equally forced smile and raised his hand, but didn't take Ben's with it. Instead he held his fist out and said stiffly, "you're absolutely right, Ben. Abigail. How very immature and selfish of me to worry about our safety."

Ben, his hand still held out in front of Riley's fist, blinked at the younger man who raised an eyebrow suggestively at him. Ben finally relented a moment later with a roll of his eyes before making his own fist. He forced his fist to lightly pound against Riley's, trying to ignore the smug look of victory in the younger man's bright blue eyes.

"There," he said as he lowered his hand. "Happy now?"

"Oh yes, very much so," Riley said pleasantly. "Thank you for asking."

Ben actually chuckled and clapped his young friend on the back. "You know, Riley, you really can be annoyingly immature..."

Abigail gasped. "Ben!"

"...But I honestly couldn't imagine doing the things we do without you," he continued regardless of her interruption. "You're like the obnoxious but loveable little brother that I never had."

Riley beamed at the strange compliment, and then tried to shrug it off despite the sheepish grin he had on his face. "Well I'm glad my childish antics are keeping you sane. And here I thought I was weird for having older friends."

Ben laughed and grabbed Riley's shoulders in a one armed man hug. "You are weird, Riley. And don't ever call me old, short stuff."

"Hey I can't help that I'm vertically challenged anymore than you can help that you're going senile," he smirked at Ben, who grinned back before releasing Riley so they could continue their way into the darkness.

"But, ah, Ben," Riley started hesitantly after a few steps. "You know I wasn't joking before, right? About what a bad idea this whole scary cave wandering thing we have going on is..."

"Don't even start," Ben groaned. He took a few long strides ahead so he was again walking with Abigail while Riley trailed behind.

"Bennn," the young man whined.

"So, Abigail," Ben said pointedly to his girlfriend. He pointed to the handheld GPS she was wielding. "How much further?"

"Hopefully not too far," Abigail answered. "But the paths branch off, and some go deeper underground. It's difficult to tell if we're going the right way, since the original map was destroyed..."

Riley drowned out her boring answer with a frustrated sigh. Despite Ben's belief that everything would turn out fine like always, Riley just couldn't shake that horrible foreboding feeling, especially when he could no longer see the starry night sky through the cave's entranceway behind them. The further they went, the more corridors they came across that seemingly led nowhere. But Abigail claimed she knew where she was going, and Riley didn't want to press the matter any further than that. The sooner they were in and out of the murky space the better.

Riley sluggishly followed the pale glow of Ben and Abigail's flashlights and barely listened to what they were saying about the historically significant discovery that was going to be made when they finally reached the supposed Fountain of Youth, and how excited they were to have gotten this far already. Riley could care less. As usual, their adventure had already gotten them almost killed once, and by Riley's calculations it was only a matter of time before something happened to them again.

The young man was so deep in his own ironically morbid thoughts that he didn't sense a figure coming up behind him from the shadows until said figure had wrapped one thick arm around Riley's chest while the other immediately came up to press a dank cloth against his mouth and muffle his short cry of alarm. He struggled, but the man who grabbed him held strong and lifted Riley's wildly kicking feet off the ground with ease.

The whole attack couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds. As soon as the chloroform soaked rag covered Riley's face he felt his eye lids grow heavy with unwanted sleep. The last thing he saw before the drowsiness took over completely were Ben and Abigail's lights moving further away in the darkness before disappearing entirely.

Ben stood perplexed, his hand rubbing thoughtfully against his jaw. "Maybe we missed another turn somewhere..."

"You mean one that doesn't lead to a dead end?" Abigail scoffed.

"Uh, yeah," Ben mumbled back as he stared at the very blank rock wall in front of them. "That would be good. Hey, Riley did you see any other ways we could have gone? ... ...Riley?"

Ben and Abigail turned to look behind them where they were sure Riley was still following. The young man had been silent for a good twenty minutes already, which had admittedly made their travels much easier. Neither of them even suspected that he wouldn't be there when they turned around.

"Riley?" Ben blinked with a surprised expression that quickly turned to one of alarm. He hurried back the way they came, calling his friend's name desperately. "Riley!"

"He's not here, Ben," Abigail said calmly, hoping to quell some of his rising panic.

"Then where is he?"

"Maybe he...just got lost somewhere," she said, trying to convince herself as well as Ben that it was true. "Don't worry-we'll find him..."

Not my greatest first chapter, but, meh, it had to start somewhere. So gimme just a few reviews por favor and we'll get this thing going ASAP :)