Disclaimer: National Treasure is not mine. If it were, Ben and Riley would have gotten together in the first film.

Note: this chapter is in Abigail's POV.

When Ben Gates had turned to her and said, "Let me ask you this. Have you ever told someone not related to you that you loved them?" Abigail had answered truthfully.

"Yes."

"More than one someone?" Again, she had told him the truth, wondering where he was going with this strange conversation held in the dressing room of Urban Outfitters.

"Yes."

"Well, my father would say you have been too cavalier in your personal life." At the time, she had never thought anything of it. But, as the months after finding the treasure passed and their relationship fell apart, she thought back on those words and wondered if they had another meaning. Ben could have had any woman, or man, he fancied, but instead, after three months after their 'official' separation, he was still single.

Abigail found it easy to believe that Ben would turn down the offers of many women, but tried not to spend too much time wondering to whom he was directing his attentions. When they had lived together for that short, mostly unhappy, time, calls had come daily, young girls screaming proposals of marriage or child-bearing. Abigail definitely understood the allure of dating Ben. He was attractive, as worldly as anyone who is obsessed with American history can be, and he had a way of speaking that made one think of Sherlock Holmes or someone equally eloquent and confusing.

And, to top it all off, Ben had a certain confidence about him, a 'certainty' as she had once called it, when she had half-convinced herself she didn't hate Ben Gates for stealing the Declaration of Independence, which caused men and women left, right, and center to notice him whenever he entered a room. Unless, of course, he was trying to be invisible, which, ten out of ten times, he was, especially if stalkers were involved; when he wanted to be, Ben was as about as noticeable as Riley in a crowd of sci-fi enthusiasts.

Which brought her back to her original train of thought: who was Riley Poole?

Abigail knew him as the geeky worshipper of Ben who could hack into the London police station's database in 2.5 seconds while in the back of a fast-moving vehicle, the one who had turned Ben into an invisible man when he was stealing the Declaration of Independence, the 5'8", 26 year old computer nerd who couldn't seem to grow up, sounding and acting like a child most of the time.

Make that the missing geeky worshipper of Ben who could hack into the London police station's database in 2.5 seconds while in the back of a fast-moving vehicle, the one who had turned Ben into an invisible man when he was stealing the Declaration of Independence, the 5'8", 26 year old computer nerd who couldn't seem to grow up, sounding and acting like a child most of the time.

Let's back up, shall we?

OK...here goes...

--

Abigail Chase had been perfectly happy, not even having a slightly-guilty, nagging feeling at the back of her mind for the past few months ever since Ben and she had broken up and he had officially moved out, and was sleeping in one lovely Saturday morning, when the oh-so-cheerful ringtone of her cell phone woke her up.

This better be important, or I will – murder – whoever is on the other side of the line, she thought. When she had picked up the annoying, ringing device, the first thing she had heard was Ben frantically asking, "Have you seen Riley?"

Not, "Sorry for waking you at such an ungodly hour of the morning," not even a, "Abigail, this is Ben. Sorry, but it's important." Yes, she knew both had the word 'sorry' in them, but she was tired, for God's sake! She wanted an apology and an explanation.

"No." She hung up. A moment later, her phone rang again. She flipped it open once more, saw Ben's name on the caller ID, and decided to answer, so she could yell at him. She opened her mouth to curse him to the ends of the world and back, when he spoke in a very serious, very hollow voice.

"I know it's early, but I…I need help, Abigail." Ben had gone from panicked to flat, and the change scared her a little. Hearing how devoid of life he sounded, how emotionless he was, Abigail didn't have the heart to scream at him.

"OK, Ben, what's going on?" She asked calmly, sitting up. She knew Riley had his own apartment, a small, one-bedroom place not too far from where Ben and she had lived until their relationship had died. Ben had gone to live at Riley's for a while, most of his stuff still packed into a U-Haul trailer.

Ben explained, his voice still monotone and flat.

"Riley's gone. He left a message on my phone an hour ago."

"What did he say?" She asked. Ben didn't answer. "What did Riley say, Ben?!" She asked, more urgently this time. She was almost afraid to listen, but she had to know.

"He said that he…he hated me. He said he was leaving. Abigail, I…I don't know what to do."

"Ben, this doesn't make any sense. Riley would never say that." She practically heard the gears start turning in Ben's mind. She got out of bed and began grabbing clean clothes. She knew that Ben wasn't going to stop looking for Riley, and she was not about to let a dear friend of hers push himself to exhaustion looking for the young geek as she knew he would if left alone. Ben and she may have not parted on the best of terms, but she still counted him as one of her closest friends; you don't go through near-death experiences without coming out of them grateful to still be breathing, as well as somehow knowing the people you had gone through those terrifying experiences with a lot better that anyone else. Besides, Riley was her friend, too, and she was getting worried now.

"Unless he had a good reason to, or…" It was a good minute before Ben spoke again. "Abigail, meet me at Riley's apartment. Maybe he left us something."

"Wait, Ben, what do you mean, 'left us something'? Like what, a clue? This isn't one of your treasure hunts, Ben." But even as she spoke, Abigail was grabbing her car keys and walking out the door.

"I know." She heard Ben take a deep, shaky breath. "But I also know Riley."

--

The half-hour drive to Riley's was done in ten minutes, and all Abigail could think was, I hope I don't get pulled over for speeding. Funny how the mind focuses on the irrelevant details when there was a crisis going on. She nearly killed herself trying to get out of her car as quickly as possible, forgetting how to unbuckle her seatbelt, unlock the car, and take out the keys at the same time. When she had finally freed herself, she found the door wide open, barely still on its hinges. Wow. When Ben's in a hurry, I guess he doesn't even stop to unlock doors. He just forces them open. She thought, looking at the large muddy footprint by the doorknob. Ben was upstairs in Riley's room, looking at something on the desk in the corner.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, apart from the complete lack of technology. Usually, the room was stuffed with things that beeped and blinked. It was oddly eerie without all the metal inside, and Abigail found herself missing the maze of wires she usually tripped over whenever she went into Riley's room, searching for something he could wear to the next party or lecture they had to attend.

She looked back at Ben, worried. He had always been on the quiet side, but she had never seen him so still. It was like he was frozen in place. Ben was so motionless the paper in his hands didn't even quiver. Wait…paper?

"Is that…?" She trailed off, not knowing what she was going to say. But Ben nodded. She didn't know how Ben would react if she tried to take their only clue to Riley's whereabouts from him, so she didn't even reach for it; she just leaned forwards until she could see it clearly.

It read,

"Ben

I hate you; you have no right to call me worthless, so no more brushing me aside like I do not matter, no more ignoring me whenever I open my mouth.

You were always too busy with Abi, having a perfect life and a perfect marriage, too busy to bother with a 'small' thing like your best friend. I know we always said we were friends, even after you forced me to leave my job. I hated you for a while after that, especially when Shaw pointed a gun at me at Charlotte's. But then we found the treasure, and I thought, hell, why not forgive the guy for letting his buddies pick on me? Then your family was accused of assassinating President Kennedy, so you came rushing back to me, begging for help. We found the second treasure, and again, I was left in the dust. I did not even get my car back, thanks to your little adventure kidnapping the president.

But I have made up my mind I am leaving for good I told you I would eventually after you left me outside eight weeks ago Do not try to find me I have given away everything I am not taking with me I have given away Robin, the white tomcat I told you about three or five weeks ago

I never want to see you again, so do not try to find me. Also, do not dare call Agent Sonny or whatever his name is.

Riley"

Yes, I know it's short, but I just wanted to see if anyone was interested. No, it's not going to be another Ian kidnaps Riley to make Ben tell him where the next redefining treasure is. In fact, treasure (as in gold and jewels and other shiny stuff) isn't a part of this fic at all.

Anyway, review and let me know what you think and if you want me to continue.