Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure but Jessica is my own idea
A/N: National Treasure is one of my favourite films so enjoy!
Chapter 01
"Miss Appleton, someone is here to see you." Emily Appleton's assistant said, peeping round the door.
"Well send her in." Emily replied, looking up from the paper she was reading. The door opened and a girl stepped inside. "What are you doing here? Your mother promised that you wouldn't ever come looking for your father because of the danger she thought you would be in."
"Danger? Mum is the one in danger and my Dad is one of the very few people who can actually help her, if she is even still alive. Now pick up the phone and call him." The girl demanded. "Or did you not tell him about my visits? Is that why you are so hesitant to call?"
"Jessica, I can't call him because, he has moved on. He has a life of his own now and doesn't want to be reminded of how badly things ended with your mother. So no. I won't call him."
"Miss Appleton, there is another here to see you." The assistant called out again.
"Well I'll leave you to it." Jessica sighed standing up. "Goodbye Nanna."
"Don't be stupid Jessica, you stay right there whilst I talk to whoever is outside." Emily replied stepping outside. As soon as the door was shut, Jess leapt around the desk, looking out the window before she flicked through documents, nothing helpful. Jess opened the top drawer and saw a mobile underneath the files.
"Perfect." Jessica copied her father's number to her own phone, dropping the mobile back in the drawer and looking out of the window again. "Crap."
A dark car with tinted windows drove up to the entrance. Jessica opened the door of her Nanna's office and slipped out of it running away down the corridor and skipping down the first flight of stairs. Stumbling back up them as she saw one man at the bottom.
"You're kidding me?" She sighed. "Up." She murmurred, striding up the stairs.
Jess found herself on the roof of the building and ducked down behind a vent column pulling her phone out. This was the only thing she could think of doing in such a desperate time as this was.
A text.
Beneath every new garden are terrible events supposedly.
Find only near hedges adored by college supporters crazily, choose reasonably along opposites.
Jessica
"Here goes." Jess tapped send and waited a little while before it completely sent. A sharp kick sent the phone flying out of here hands. She started to crawl away but a hand gripped her leg, dragging her back. She found herself unable to free herself from the grip.
"Why are you trying to run away from me Jessie?" The man looming over her asked. "It's not like you to run away."
"Get off me." Jess kicked about.
"So who were you trying to contact. Which of your friends is going to help you?" The man dragged her towards the edge of the roof.
"I wouldn't tell you anyway." Jess growled.
"That's a shame." The man pushed Jess and she falls over the edge. As she hit the ground she rolled along the grass stumbling about to get away from the man who was after her. The phone was nowhere to be seen which irritated Jess as she had couldn't remember the last digit of the number.
"Hey you!" It was one of the guys who had been hunting Jess down. So she ran. Ran like her life depended on it. Along the main road, amongst the cars that dotted the streets. Until she knocked into a man who was wearing dark trousers and a pristine white shirt. The pair hit the floor amongst the fairly busy streets.
"Oh come on." Jess rubbed her leg, turning to see the men chasing after her. "Sorry, I really am." She pulled herself to her feet. The man grabbed her arm from the pavement.
"Beneath every new garden are terrible events supposedly." He said pulling her close.
"How do you know about that?" Jess asked. "I sent that to someone. But you can't be him, are you?"
"No, not me." He leapt up and pushed Jess against the wall as one of the men chasing her sprinted past. Jess could feel his breath on her neck. She tapped his shoulder.
"Okay, you can move away now."
"Oh sorry." He moved away and held out his hand. "Riley, Riley Poole."
"Jess." Jess smiled taking his hand and shaking it gently. "But the question is, did you decipher my message then, if you saw my text."
"As much as it pains me to say it, I have struggled and had no luck with it in the time I had. But I knew you were nearby from the last known GPS location."
"I'll show you how to decipher it one day." Jess smiled, turning to walk away down the street like nothing had happened.
"Why were you trying to contact Ben?" Riley called out.
"Because I need his help." Jess paused momentarily. "And the first man a daughter goes to for help is her Dad." She opened the rucksack she had slung over her shoulder and pulled out a sealed letter. "Someone gave me this. Apparently it is important and is to do with the ruins of Atlantis. And my father is one of the few that can help me. It's also made difficult by the fact that those guys are after this."
"Too much information at once. Come with me." Riley opened the door of a car and allowed Jess to step inside. The car drove for miles and miles, most of which Jess remained silent for. As the car pulled up outside a countryside like manor Riley opened the car door and walked towards the manor's front door. Jess sat in the car in awe at the pure size of the manor. Fixed to the seat she watched as the front door opened and a man stepped outside, greeting Riley like a close friend. Then Riley pointed to the car speaking about something. The man stepped down the steps slowly as Jess got out of the car.
"Jessica? It has been about ten years since I last saw you." He said.
"Dad?" Jess hugged Ben tightly. "I'm so glad I found you. I didn't know what else to do."
"You make quite the code maker breaker." Ben replied, not really knowing whether he should hug this strange girl or not. "Okay. So this letter?"
"The letter that I told Riley about wasn't focusing on the locations of ruins of Atlantis, that is really more of a clue to finding another clue." Jess smiled awkwardly. "What? I had to use interesting bait. And I need to find my mum before it's too late."
"Why? Where is she?"
"Right now? She is trekking across some god forsaken wasteland in search of some modern like Atlantis. But in terms of a further location, no idea."
"Helpful. I hope to find it soon."
"We have to find her Dad. I don't expect my parents to get back together, but I can't do without you, or her." Jess smiled weakly. "You're my only hope Dad, only you are smart enough to help me solve this."
"I'll see what the others say."
"Others?"
"Well, now that Riley published a book about our adventures, people know about us. And what we do. We found the city of gold and other places, people are waiting for us to find, to find other lost wonders. We were looking for the garden of Eden but maybe Atlantis is what we are meant to find first."
"Ben." Abigail said standing in the doorway. "Who is this?"
"This is the daughter I spoke to you about. Jessica." Ben replied.
"Jess, or Jessie but not Jessica." Jessica smiled cheekily.
"Ben, was what was on the page of the book to do with Atlantis? The one the President showed you?" Riley said quietly.
"Oh no, I am not having any more adventures for some kind of missing link." Abbie snapped bluntly.
"Riley, that was a secret." Ben whispered back.
"Quit it you two."
"But we have to go there Abbie. My mum went missing searching for it." Jess added, standing up and looking at Abbie directly in the eyes. "You would want Ben's help if your family was in danger. Well apart from Dad, my mum is the only family." Abbie let out a deep sigh throwing her hands behind her head and running them through her hair. Ben sat down on the sofa behind him and pulled out a small diary like notebook, flicking through the various pages whilst Riley and his daughter watched in silence. "Dad?" Ben didn't even look up. "Dad." Jess raised her voice a little this time and Ben looked up.
"Mmm." He mumbled, closing the notebook before Riley could catch a glimpse of the notes that were hidden within. "I guess, there might have been a little something in there about Atlantis. Not quite page forty seven."
"Hang on a second. You've met the President. The President of the United States?" Jess squeaked, astounded at the fact her father may have met him.
"Yeah, not only has he met the President. He got to kidnap the President." Riley interrupted Jess before she could squeal any more.
"Dad!" Jess looked to Ben with wide eyes. "No way." She gasped. "That's amazing." Jess smiled. "Yet it still sounds, nothing, well not at all like the dad I remember when I was almost fifteen."
"Don't say it like that. You're making me feel old." Ben reached out and squeezed Jess's arm. "But as your father, I promise that I will do everything in my power to get your mother back." Jess looked deep into Ben's eyes and saw truth and promise. He had given her his word. Jess jumped up as she noticed a shadow hovering by the door but as she approached it, the shadow disappeared but Jess wasn't giving up.
"Hey, Abbie." She called after Abigail who stopped and didn't move. "I'm sorry I came here. I don't think I would have if I'd have know-"
"It's not your fault Jess." Abigail replied quietly. "It's not your fault at all. Come on, let's walk outside. You must have some questions that you'd like answers to." Abigail opened the doors at the back of the house. "So you last saw your dad about ten years ago then?"
"Fifteen years. Yeah, before then, he and Mum weren't exactly on good terms. And one argument spiralled out of control and he left, I don't really know, that's just what Mum would say to get me to stop asking. I'm sure that there is more to it than that." Jess stopped walking as Abigail continued a little further, then realised Jess had stopped.
"That must have been hard on you Jess, especially with no one for you to depend on all this time."
"Not particularly, not after those guys were following me all this time. Will you help us to find Atlantis?" Jess found her hand holding Abigail's. "Please?"
"I will stand by Ben no matter what happens. I will follow Ben whilst we are together."
"Together together? Like, boyfriend and girlfriend, or husband and wife, or guy friend and girlfriend." Jess asked.
"Call it what you like Jess. It is just how things are."
"I don't mean that in a bad way Abbie. It's just weird thinking of Dad with someone else. He's my Dad. I'm just finding it difficult to get my head around, but he seems happy. I just have to accept that."
"Thank you." Abbie said, leaning on the stone balcony which ran around the outside of the house's decking. "Are you sure you want to go searching for this place?"
"Abbie, I have to. My Mum is out there. Do you think that I can just leave her stranded wherever she is? You would go and find your mum if she was missing wouldn't you?" Jess turned around and faced the house.
"Yeah, maybe I would."
Jess whipped back round to face Abbie.
"You can't sound so uncertain about it." Jess laughed a little and then stopped as she noticed a car coming up the path. "Who is this coming up the path?" She backed away from Abbie.
"That is just the person who will be able to put together a team to assist Ben." Abbie smiled a little as she walked down the steps towards the car that had come to the house. "Joshua Gallagher, so glad you could drop by at such short notice." Abbie hugged this Joshua guy and Jess noticed a pack of documents in one of Joshua's hands.
"Abigail, may I introduce to you, my assistant, Isabel Whittaker." Joshua held his hand out to his assistant as she stepped out of the car. She wore a delicate, black pencil skirt with a blue blouse with frilly cuffs matched with black framed glasses. Jess's first thought was that she clearly didn't fit in with the whole searching for treasure and hidden cities look. "Now, I hear you want another team to be put together, for yet another one of Ben's crazy expeditions, correct?"
"They are not crazy." Jess muttered.
"Jess." Abbie snapped. "Yes Joshua. Absolutely, do you have anyone in mind?"
"I have four that will help to complete the set. But where is Ben? I'd like to see him." Abbie led them all inside to the living room where Riley and Ben leant over a desk to look at articles on this uncovered wonder. "Benjamin Gates, my old friend!" Joshua embraced Ben like an old friend.
"Joshua, how have you been?"
"I've been fine. Looking forward to hearing your mission."
"Ah, and I am looking forward to seeing who you have in mind."
"Well they are not the usual people for the job. Here." Joshua handed the files over to Ben. "There's Damian Radleigh, a man who has studied architecture and ancient history who a prolonged time, Mark Lokasec, the muscles of the group, Paris Garland, a marksman and survivor. Last but not least, Pandora Tevensey, Dora for short, she's a sweet kid but she'd got some killer skills that will come in useful."
"Sounds like you've already made up your mind." Ben said. "Are we all in agreement?" Ben looked to Riley and Abbie.
"Ah, but Ben. What are you on about? It doesn't matter what they think, what matters is what you think of these guys right here in these documents." Joshua shook the papers at Ben's face. "Come on Ben, make a date, let's do something about it. Let's go and find this place."
"We're really doing this? We are really going to find the lost city of Atlantis?" Riley asked.
"Too right Riley. You are going to be part of the team that finds Atlantis." Jess nudged Riley gently.
"Who said anything about these guys coming?" Joshua indicated Abbie, Riley and Jess. "What use will they be Ben?"
"Hey! What the hell are you say about me?" Jess snapped only to be silenced by Ben.
"Well I think they will be of great help." Ben protested.
"How?" Joshua asked.
"How can they possibly match these people's abilities?" Isabel interrupted.
"Because I trust Riley with my life. He has proved him in the past. Miss Chase is a valuable addition as she has been an asset in the past. And Jess will no doubt have her father's treasure hunting ability." Ben pulled Abbie, Jess, and Riley close. "We are a team, so if you want to be a part of this expedition I suggest that you stand down." Joshua waited in silence for a moment.
"Fine, deal." Joshua mumbled. "So what's the first clue?"
"No Ben." Everyone looked to see Emily, Ben's mother, standing at the door. "I am not going to let you go on another adventure of yours. Nor will I let you take my granddaughter on it either."
"It's my choice Nanna." Jess argued back.
"Her mother's life hangs in the balance." Ben added.
"Well you're minds are already made up and I am definitely not coming with you so I will step aside." Emily stepped forwards. "Mr Joshua, I assume you are only here to give my son a new expedition team."
"Indeed I am Miss Appleton. It's lovely to see you again." Joshua smiled. They heard the front door open, much to the protest of the housekeeper.
"No, excuse me, you can't go in there."
Four people entered the room and now it was definitely starting to become a squeeze. Jess tucked herself in the space behind the sofa and wondered who these four people were.
"I introduce you to Damian Radleigh, Mark Lokasec, Paris Garland and Pandora, no, Dora Tevensey, the newest additions to my team." Jess looked at Ben to notice a look that matched Grace's thoughts. "Damian, Mark, Paris, Pandora and Isabel. Meet Ben and his pawns Riley, Abigail and Jessica, the other half of my team."
"My team" he says, since when was it his team?
Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = I have to say, this is one of my most imaginative stories to date. But it's not going to stop me, I am thinking of all these elaborate clues, trying to reflect the intricate plot of the films, who knows where it'll get me :L