A/N- Okay, I have no idea where this came from. I swear. I don't even usually write fanfiction for movies, but I was watching NT a week or so ago and this idea just popped into my head: a short collection of oneshot/drabbles from the POVs of the four main characters, regarding what they think/thought of the other characters. And...here's the first chapter. Why is Riley's chapter first? ...Because Riley is my favorite. Duh. XD Hopefully to follow soon: chapters for Ben, Abigail, and Ian. Heh. Keep your fingers crossed... Hope you enjoy! -OA

A/N 2- I forgot to mention (though I'm sure you'll all figure it out) that this fic is based off the first movie. And just to clear up any confusion, the character whose name is in the chapter title is the one thinking about the other characters. I.e., (for this chapter) Riley thinking about Abigail, Ben, and Ian. The other chapters will follow the same format. I hope it makes sense! Enjoy! -OA

Impressions

By ObsessedAuthoress

Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure, or the various quotes of dialogue from the movie that appear below.

Riley

::Abigail::

Maybe a tiny part of him resented it, being shoved aside in a way. After Ian revealed his big-bad-guy persona, it was just him and Ben. And he didn't mind it like that, because they worked well together. They were friends, and together they pulled off some crazy stuff.

Um. Declaration of Independence? Need he say more?

But then she was there, all bright and golden and smarter than he was about a lot of things. Smart like Ben. So alike, those two, and he suddenly found himself on the sidelines, outside looking in.

It got worse from there, 'cause he would never admit it to anyone, but he's always kind of had a crush on her. Ever since that first day, when they walked into her office and saw that blond head tilted to the side as she finished up her phone call, those dark blue eyes intent on her work and then on them, taking in details and forming conclusions.

"Hello...Bill."

So strong, and intelligent, and relatively unfazed by the tornado of events that followed. Her determination. All of it's attractive to him.

And that's as far as it goes, just a confession within his own mind, because Riley doesn't do crushes on other people's girls. Especially his best friend's girl.

So when he stares at them in mock disgust, standing on the verdant lawn of their beautiful, historical home (because it's Ben, therefore it has to be historical), and says, "What do you care? You got the girl," he's only slightly bitter. Just slightly. A smidgen. Only a teensy-weensy bit.

…But he doesn't crush on other people's girls.

He doesn't.

::Ben::

It's not really too much of a stretch to say that Ben's more than just his best friend.

Ben is his savior.

The idea of sitting in a window-less cubicle all day, five days a week, doing nothing but tapping keys for the same repetitive commands, over and over and over again… It makes him shudder just to think back on how dead-ended his life was.

Until Ben showed up. Found him. Gave him options. Befriended him. Made him a part of a world that was vast and mysterious and exciting, full of clue-hunting, arctic excavations, and buried treasure. It was like every little boy's wildest dream come true.

Of course, the whole "I'm going to steal it. I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence" bit was like stepping into shallow water, only to have the ocean floor drop out from under his feet. He could only laugh for a moment, and then splutter, and then race after his friend (savior) in a mad panic, horrified to realize that Ben was in fact, deadly serious.

Truthfully, he should have been terrified for himself, for that threat of a life in prison hanging over his head. But he wasn't, not really. Well. Maybe subconsciously, but the rest of his mind was devoted to wondering what went on in Ben's. Because Ben didn't seem concerned about it.

"This is huge. Prison-huge. You are gonna go to prison; you know that, right?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Well…that would…bother most people."

What made someone like Benjamin Franklin Gates decide to abandon the remaining shreds of his reputation, his life, his work, for the preservation of a centuries-old parchment that might have an invisible treasure map on the back?

It turned out alright in the end; even if he gripes about his share, that lovely, candy-apple red Ferrari is certainly nothing to sneeze at, even if he can't drive it to save his life. But before the end was reached, it was the journey along the way that revealed the answer to his musings, his study of the man who liberated him and then become his best friend.

Honor. Courage. Integrity. Devotion. Loyalty.

"It means, if there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action."

…It's just something Ben would do.

::Ian::

He'd like to say that he saw it coming, pierced the genial façade at some point, saw through the nice-guy routine.

Only he didn't, really. He's just as shocked to witness Shaw pull that gun at Ian's order as Ben is. It's like his brain stutters for a moment, grinding to an incredulous halt over the situation, and then he's flashing back to the first time he met Ian (and Ben, but it's Ian who's calling the shots now, isn't it, and he can't say that he likes where this is going).

He had just come back from his lunch-break, a small, too-short reprieve in the middle of an interminable day where he accomplished nothing of any meaning whatsoever, and there they were. Tall and well-dressed and looking rather out-of-place in his tiny workspace. The dark-haired one was standing there waiting for him, shook his hand when he walked in, and immediately started in on the proposition, which was soon to blow his mind.

And the blond just sat there on the edge of Riley's pitiful desk, leaning back on both hands with both legs crossed at the ankles. It was a posture of confidence, nonchalance, and it wasn't like there was anything wrong with that, but… That smirk, hovering just on the edges of a full mouth, and the way pale blue eyes seemed to calculate too intently, adding up information for an equation no one else knew about.

Any faint sense of unease was banished by elation, being free of his old job and starting on this new venture with the brunet (Ben) and the blond (traitor-thief-Ian-con-man-jerk) and the rest of their company. He barely even remembered that wariness hovering in the background, inexplicable hints of not-right and dangerous, too subtle for him to pick up on.

As Ben throws him into the smuggler's hold of The Charlotte and scrambles in after him, he barely has time to berate himself for not reading the signs before there's a deafening BOOM all around them and everything goes white(er).

"Ian's here…"

"I hate that guy."

A/N- There ya go! Hope it wasn't OOC on anyone's part...? Like I said, hopefully the other three chapters will be up in a timely fashion. If anyone has a preference as to whether Ben or Abigail comes next (sorry, Ian's reserved for last) than...let me know in a review! XD Yes, yes, now you understand, it's a ploy to get you to review...no, seriously... Hope it was good! Thanks! -OA