Summary: Featuring good!Ian, because I like the guy. Riley gets amnesia. How will Abi, Ben, and Ian cope with his loss? Or worse, what will happen when he starts to slowly gain it back?

A/N: This is set after Strangest Things. Don't worry; you don't have to read it to get what's going n. Just know, Ian's a lot friendlier with the trio since the end of the film.

…Or you can call this an AU where Ian is just an all-around good guy and friends with the family Gates/Poole.

Disclaimer: Owning this would be a dream come true. But for nor it's just that, a dream. .:le sigh:. I don't own.

To Kaylee (save changes to normal) because she's been the best National Treasure friend a girl could ask for. Thanks for the undying support and the abundance of chapters (that I still have yet to review, sorry!)

Chapter 1.

"Why on God's green earth does Abi need a decoration for Thanksgiving?" Riley whined, examining the large decoration of a turkey dressed in a Pilgrim getup. "Why, for that matter, does she absolutely 'need' it on the roof?" A white cord protruded out of it, signaling that it lit up, to Riley's utter dismay. The brown-haired geek groaned. That woman just liked making his life difficult.

Ben and Ian, who were sitting at one of the tables in the backyard of Ben's lovely mansion, grinned at the younger man's harping but refused to look up from their work for fear of being forced to listen to more of Riley's rant.

"Guys, can't you please just set this up? I really don't think my geekiness would be able to withstand such hard labor." Riley pleaded, turning on the Look that usually made everyone melt.

"I'm sorry, Riley." Ben began, still flipping intently through a book that lay on the glass (because he certainly wasn't about to look into those captivating baby blues) "You're the one who kept whining about how boring our new treasure hunt was. It's not our fault you got tangled in Abi's holiday-decorating web on one of your 'breaks.'"

"The millionth one today, I might add." Ian interjected.

"Please, I'm begging you. Just put it on the roof and everyone's happy."

"Riley!" Abi said in a tone of anger behind him. The victim of her hanger eeped, surprised. "Why are talking to them when you should be setting that turkey on the roof. Make sure it's center too; I'm not going to have my house looking awkward and askew."

"Right, that would be a travesty…" Riley huffed and looked at the festive bird Abi was referring to. The young man picked up the decoration and Abi walked away pleased with herself. Riley looked after her and immediately set the bird down again once she was out of sight.

"Why can't you guys help me? It's only going to take a second, I swear." Riley tried once more.

"Riley, if it's only going to take a second, why don't you do it?" Ben asked logically, making it a point not to look up from his reading.

Riley sighed heavily once again. Persuading Ben to do something when he was set on doing something else was like trying to move the Great Wall of China: It ain't happening. But that's when Riley tried to work his persistent efforts onto the British gentlemen seated across from his stubborn friend. The young man furrowed his eyebrow and twisted it upward, looking to all the world like a pouting, angelic puppy.

"Ian, can you please help me put this up? I don't think you'll like the odds of me against the roof. There's major wreckage to be done, and I don't mean to the roof. I'm talking about physical harm to yours truly here. Pleeeease, Ian, please, please?"

And that's when Ian made the horrible mistake of actually glancing up from his laptop. That's when the force of the Look hit him head on and everything stopped making sense. At that moment, the only thought going through Ian's head was, "How can I let such a poor and helpless soul down? Look at him! He's hurt."

"Well-I- Okay." Ian finally agreed. The battle never lasted long when Riley's innocent eyes were the opponent.

Riley rejoiced and Ben gawked at Ian. The older treasure protector shook his head in superiority.

"You have a lot to learn, my friend. Abi and I know by now to never look up." Ben said while Ian sneered, getting up from his comfortable position at the table.

XxxxXXXxxxX

"Just put it on the roof, he said. Psh, a load easier said than done." Ian grumbled quietly in his British accent, straining to climb the length of roof to the very middle.

"Yeah, a little more to the left, buddy." Riley yelled from below.

Ian grunted as he turned around to see the young man barking orders from below while eating a Kit Kat. Where'd he get the candy? Ian might've thought under normal circumstances, but since the man was on a particularly wobbly ladder, the only notion running through Ian's head was why the heck wasn't Riley where he told him to be: holding his ladder still.

"Riley, I hope you are not standing there. Because if you are, you are going to be in a world of pain when I get down, mister. I told you to hold this cheap, decrepit ladder still." Before Ian could finish this furious tirade though, the ladder beneath him leaned backward dangerously. Ian held his breath, trying to lean it back against the roof quickly. This was why he hated heights. But Ian's attempt appeared to be in vain, for the wooden piece allowed gravity to do its thing and made its descent towards ground, with a wailing Ian grasping white-knuckled to the handles.

"AAAH!" Riley shouted, watching in horror at the slow-motioned scene before him. His legs kicked in as the ladder reached its halfway mark of the fall. Why Riley started to run, he could never tell you. It really didn't make much a difference when Riley thought about it.

Ian was gripping the handles of the ladder, his life flashing before his eyes as he continued to plummet mercilessly. When he finally reached impact, his eyes were shut so tightly, his lids threatened tearing.

"GAAAAAH!" THUMP! "Oof!"

Ian remained motionless, waiting for death to quickly consume him. Nothing was happening though. He was still, but his hard breathing and his pulsing heart were true signs that he was alive. What had happened? Cracking open an eyelid, only to be met by a glaring afternoon sky, Ian turned to the roof to make sure he hadn't just dreamt the whole nightmare.

No, the ladder was still on him, he noted. He slid it off of him with a groan and hefted himself up with a pained expression. If it wasn't a dream, Ian thought curiously to himself, how was he able to have survived the- He stopped his pondering for a moment as his eyes landed on the formidable sight of Riley's limp form beneath him, face slack, and head in a pool of blood.

"No bloody way…" He managed to gasp out before screaming urgently: "Ben, Abi, quick! I need help!"

In no time at all, the couple was rushing over with anxious looks on their face. They arrived at the emergency scene and both man and woman's expressions turned into that of horror.

"Wha-What happened? Why is he bleeding?" Abi said, falling onto her knees to reach out towards Riley.

"Don't touch him, Abigail." Ian admonished the terrified blonde woman lightly. He looked up at Ben quickly. "We need to call the paramedics; do you have your phone on you?"

Ben was staring down at his young friend with a shocked expression.

"Ben! Call 911!" Ian repeated emphatically, knocking the man out of his stupor.

Ben nodded and shakily retrieved his phone out of his pant pockets.

"Hello, I need an ambulance…"

XxxxXXXxxxX

Ian, Abi, and Ben sat restlessly in the hospital waiting room. Nobody had spoken much about the incident. Ian had explained to them what had happened and took most of the blame. Abi disagreed and commented tearfully that if she hadn't told Riley to put up the dumb turkey, it wouldn't have escalated to his injury. Ben furthered the disagreement by adding that he should have helped Ian because Riley was obviously incapable of taking care of it by himself, even with Ian's assistance.

"I should've watched out for him…" Ben trailed off heavily.

Ian sighed.

"Ben, Abi, none of us should be trying to assume the responsibility." Ian attempted to reassure rationally. "Had we known this would have happened, I have no doubt we would have done everything in our power to have prevented it. When Riley wakes up, we'll just keep a closer eye on him."

"Ian's right. Riley can act like a careless teenager sometimes. It's those times that he gets distracted and unfocused that he lands himself in messes like these…" Ben added ruefully.

"Then do we all agree that we will stop feeling sorry for ourselves and put more time into looking after Riley?" Ian questioned, looking at the other two pointedly.

Ben nodded and Abi wiped a stray tear before showing her concurrence as well.

The next twenty minutes were spent trying to distract themselves with a Tupperware sale on television.

"How are you? Did the nurses already check out some of your bruises?" Abi asked Ian after she had time to sort her frenzied and worried thoughts.

Ian nodded.

"Yeah, most of them were on my lower back but all other injuries were cushioned by Ri-" Ian stopped short as his guilty thoughts overtook him. Ben and Abi caught it though and Abi immediately regretted the question. "God," Ian whispered remorsefully. It should've been him in the hospital. He could handle it better than Riley.

"Ian, we're glad that you're okay," Abi said sincerely.

"Yeah, and we agreed we'd stop feeling sorry for ourselves." Ben reminded, squeezing Ian's shoulder comfortingly.

Ian nodded, not entirely convinced, as they as crept back into their thickening silence,

Admittedly, ten minutes into this second interlude of quiet, Ben had become somewhat interested in the Tupperware show. They were strong and sturdy and you couldn't lose the cap because every cap fit all the different sizes.

Ben was only happy to finally divert his attention to the doctor walking towards their waiting room with a clipboard in hand.

Dr. Galore was a tall man with a full head of dark gray hair. He wore glasses over his baggy eyes and your basic doctor stuff on his long white coat. He greeted them cordially and looked down at the clipboard.

"Are you Mr. Poole's family?" he asked, examining the three adults who looked nothing like the young man he had been inspecting.

"Um, yes, figuratively speaking." Ben tried to explain. They probably should've thought about this story earlier. "You see, he lives mainly with my wife and I and Ian is a close friend. We all care for him, in a way."

"But you aren't in anyway blood related, is that correct?" the doctor asked, pointing at the three skeptically.

"No, no we're not." Ben said. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Well, in Mr. Poole's case, yes." Dr. Galore stated bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Abi asked quickly with an eyebrow quirked. "What about his case?"

"Mr. Poole has suffered from severe blunt force trauma to his occipital lobe, in other words, the crash has jostled some of his brain's nerves. After regaining consciousness for a total of thirty seconds, Mr. Poole revealed to us that he didn't know who he was, how he had gotten here, and who he was with. He fainted shortly after."

"Does-does this mean he has amnesia?" Ian asked, stating the reprehensible news.

Dr. Galore nodded sympathetically.

"Severe retrograde amnesia, to be exact." The doctor accompanied. "It's a form of amnesia that causes the victim to forget key people and events in his life. I haven't had the privilege of speaking with Riley to further diagnose the condition, but it appears obvious that he doesn't remember you, his own identity, or what has happened in the last… I'd have to say five years at worst."

The three let the information sink in and Abi had to sit down from the overwhelming shock.

"Can-Can we see him?" Ben asked hesitantly.

The doctor sighed heavily and Abi looked up from her mourning to await his reply.

"This is where the bad news comes in for most family, or in this case, friends, of the amnesiac victim." Dr. Galore said. "You need to be very careful around Riley. Hugging him or slapping him on the back is fine for long-term relationships, but Riley won't think he's ever had one of those. Victims usually feel embarrassed and stressed about their condition and forcing your memories on him will most likely lead to resentment. Showing him articles and just being a friend will ultimately help him remember though."

"So, how long can you estimate he'll be like this?" Ian asked, hoping for a glimmer of hope in this sad prognosis.

"Amnesia's funny in that it'll be there one moment and suddenly disappear the next. Sometimes it clears up after a week; some cases have lasted as long as a year. With a new medication he's been prescribed, it should help heal any brain damage done."

Ben nodded.

"Is he awake?" he finally asked.

"No," the doctor said. "After he fainted he never woke up again. But you may wait in his room if you like."

"Thank you, doctor." Ian replied in a sad tone.

"Sure." The doctor backed out of the room and went back to his work.

Ben and Ian turned around to face the still weeping Abi.

"This is terrible." She blubbered through her crying. Ben sat down next to her and rubbed soothing circles into her back.

"It's okay, Abigail. We'll help him get through this. You heard what the doctor said, we have to be strong." Ben pointed out.

"I know. It's just; I wish he didn't forget us. He must be so scared." Abi closed her eyes and let a few tears drop.

"Shh, it'll be okay. We're all scared, but it'll go away. Riley is too stubborn to forget any of this for very long." Her husband reassured, grabbing his wife in an affectionate hug. Ian looked on compassionately, somewhat lost in his own distressing thoughts.

"All right, then. Let's go see him." Abi finally said after a moment of composing herself. She hoped they had tissues in his hospital room because this was going to be hard… On everyone.

XxxxXXXxxxX

A/N: Aww, sad, sad, sad. Guess what? It only gets sadder. This is one of my first angsty fics in a long time. And to think it started out on a such a light note! This is pretty short. Sorry. I've already got chapter two in the works and a few more kinks to work out in the story, but I don't think I'll have the strength to continue unless I get some handy-dandy reviews in my inbox. So, please, please, tell me what you think!

Reviewers will be given a heavy dosage of love, gratitude, and fulfillment in their hearts.

Thanks for reading,

-Sarah

Super Secret Preview of the Next Chapter- Riley: "Who are you? Who am I?" –Wow, who could see that coming?