Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure.
So, I wanted to write more. Take that and stick it in your lemonade. :p I'm definitely iffy on this chapter because I honestly do not know what could play out in certain situations such as this. I think I kept Ben in character but who knows. Review if you'd like. Hope you enjoy.
9 Days Later
Ben Gates was not happy. He stared at his father mumbling depressing things under his breath and hesitated on whether or not to leave just yet. Seeing that his dad wouldn't be in the talking mood, he sighed and walked out the door of his childhood and current home.
He was almost to his car when he heard a voice call out to him. "Uh, excuse me, sir?"
He turned around and his eyebrows raised. This girl looked a lot like… He mentally shook his head and cleared his throat, turning his body toward her respectfully. "Can I help you?"
The girl bit her lip and her cheeks turned pink. "Um, I was just wondering… I mean, I saw you leave his house so I was curious if you knew Patrick Gates by any chance?"
Ben's brow furrowed and he frowned at her, wondering why a young girl would have any interest in visiting his dad. "Yes, I do... I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."
"Well, I didn't get yours either." She replied a bit short, a little defensive at his suspicious facial expression.
He was silently amused at her 180 in attitude toward a stranger and properly introduced himself. "I'm Ben Gates. Son of the man you're looking for." He told her holding his hand out.
He didn't expect her jaw to drop and her eyes to bulge out. "Y-you're Benjamin Franklin Gates..?" She asked quietly, more so as a statement.
Ben, thinking she recognized the name from his famous treasure hunt smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, it was a pretty historical finding." He boasted, trying to maintain modesty but failing.
She looked at him strangely before glancing toward the side of his father's lawn. He followed her gaze and took notice of a large purple duffle bag. He quickly caught her abashed gaze again and didn't hide his open confusion.
Without saying another word, she pulled a paper out of her purse and handed it to him. He had to reread it three times before looking up at her with a shocked face.
"Yeah," She muttered, taking a great interest in her shoes. "Apparently, I'm your daughter."
NTNTNTNTNTNTNNTNTNTNTNTNT
After nervously accepting an invitation from a more awkward and less composed Ben for lunch to talk things over, Elizabeth sat in the booth, berating herself for even trying to get in touch with him at all.
"So," Ben started as they waited for their food, "Uh, how old are you?"
Elizabeth looked up at him though her bangs, "I turned 18 a few months back."
"Oh, wow. Er, congratulations." He said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Oh yes," She snorted forgetting the awkwardness, "It's wonderful. The only guarantee now is death, bills and taxes."
"That's a bit cynical, don't you think?" Ben asked, an amused look clouding his features.
"I guess," Lizzie shrugged, easily slipping into a comfortable conversation mode. "I mean, it's so boring after High School though. I'm not going to college and I don't have a job. There's nothing really that-"
"You're not going to college?" Ben interrupted, leaning forward. "Why not?"
Elizabeth blushed and cleared her throat. "I didn't have the highest GPA in school. I mean, I know now why I'm so interested in History and everything, but I never passed any math class over geometry and since I didn't pass Algebra 2, I'm limited to a two year college."
Ben stared curiously at his 'daughter' and it hit him suddenly. This moment was surreal. Almost more so than when he had found the treasure a year and a half ago. He was sitting in a café with a girl he just found out was his illegitimate daughter talking about her school. It almost made him laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Almost.
Instead, he said, "Math never was my favorite subject either."
She smiled slightly at him and chuckled. "I really wanted to go to Georgetown but Grandmother said I wouldn't make it. She said too many people lived their lives on past lives of dead people. I always believed she was wrong because how can you shape a better future without the knowledge of the past?"
Ben felt his lips twitch in a grin. "That's right."
There was a few moments of silence before Elizabeth spoke a question she'd been dying to ask. "So, how did you meet my mother?"
Ben, being the man he was, knew she would eventually ask that and sighed, rubbing his forehead and thanking the waitress when she brought the food. "We were both very young," He started off, watching Lizzie eat her fries and club. She then lined a few fries up between the bread slices and squirted more ketchup inside as well. He let out an incredulous breath at a habit he too had. He realized she was waiting for him to continue and decided he'd look for more similarities later. "She and I met at a Museum in D.C., we went out for some drinks and ended up having a puppy romance, I guess you could call it."
"Wait, so you two weren't in love with each other?" Elizabeth interrupted, frowning.
"Oh, we very much believed we were at the time, however, as I said, we were young. Both too young and had different reasons for clinging onto each other the way we did. My first love had always been the adventure for finding the treasure. Your mother's love was freedom. We both used each other, I 'm guessing, to deal with that. After I went to college, I admit she and I grew apart. I didn't receive any more letters and I honestly was too absorbed in finding out the truth about my family's hunt for history to be bothered by it." He explained, repeating in his head that he was actually having a bizarre conversation with his kid.
"That does make sense." Elizabeth said, nibbling on a fry. "So… you didn't know she was pregnant with me?"
"If I did, I promise you I would have been there from the beginning." He told her seriously, an intense gaze focused on her.
After a few moments of weighing his tone, she believed him through the honesty in his eyes. "I'm glad." She said quietly.
"I'm curious," He told her lowly, "Why did you try to get in touch with my dad and not me?"
She raised an eyebrow at him and grinned. "Seriously? Dude, you are a big deal you know. They're not going to give some random teenager the address of a multimillionaire. I only got access to Patrick- er, I mean, your dad- by one of my friends. She's a good hacker."
Ben nodded, quickly wondering what kind of friends she had and what she liked to do in her spare time, and continued with another question. "Where is Emeline now? Does she know you're here?"
"She died right after giving birth to me." Elizabeth shrugged, taking a large bite of her sandwich. "My grandmother took me in."
"Oh." He said, frowning and looking down. A few tense minutes passed before the waitress brought the bill.
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth spoke, mistaking his silent mourning for indifference. "Thank you for the lunch. I'm going to get going." She stood up and began to walk away.
"Whoa, whoa!" Ben said, standing up quickly, grabbing her forearm before throwing a ten on the table. "Going where?"
"Look," She sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Honestly, you don't seem as freaked out as I know I would be in this situation, and that in itself freaks me out because I just met the man I've been dying to know about for 18 years and you act as if I told you I was an old student or something rather than your kid. I understand, I really do. I'm already an adult so you have no legal binding to me and whatever, that's cool. I- I just thought you should know. I mean, I thought you'd want to know…" She was rambling, she knew. Blushing as well for a couple of onlookers being nosy, and continued to walk out, ignoring Ben's protest.
She got about a few steps out the door until she realized she'd left her duffel bag in his car. Shit, she groaned, wanting to slap herself at her carelessness.
"Elizabeth!" Ben called out frantically before stopping short at her form hunched uncomfortably in front of his car. He released a shaky breath. He hadn't known while talking to her how it would feel to not know her whereabouts and safety. Jesus, he'd grown attached to this girl whom he just met an hour ago!
He couldn't help but feel angry at her grandmother for not telling him, mournful about Emeline, and furious with the system for not contacting him after Emeline passed. He figured Genevieve had something to do with that. He also felt some weird sort of knot in his stomach when he looked at Elizabeth. It was anxiousness, nervousness and love. Added with a giant heap of fear. She already managed to get to him, which was to be expected given the information he'd found out.
"I just need my bag." She told him, crossing her arms nervously in front of her.
"Look, Elizabeth. You think I'm not 'freaked out', but the truth is I am terrified." He told her, putting his hand on her shoulder.
She looked up at him shocked.
"I've never been a dad before and I honestly can say I never thought I'd be in this situation." He laughed humorlessly. "You are 18 though, you're free to do what you like, but it would be a pleasure on my part if you stayed with me and allowed me to get to know you more."
Elizabeth felt tears sting at her eyes and quickly wiped them away. "I'd like that."
Ben smiled, but frowned when he realized he'd have to explain another shocking thing to his dad. At this, Ben instantly remembered what Mitch had showed and explained to them earlier. "Damnit." He muttered.
"What?" Elizabeth looked up shocked at his random outburst.
"Come on, we have to go somewhere. I'll explain on the way." He told her walking to the driver's side. Before they got in though, Ben called her name, "Just so you know, I live off of crazy. There's not much that can freak me out."
She mirrored his grin. "I think I like this family already."
Riley's in the next one :) Like or no? I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but for now, I'm satisfied. Drop a review if you'd like.
horror-zombie-gem: I'm really glad you liked it! I'm surprised there wasn't errors lol I make them all the time! Thank you for reviewing, makes my day :)
bolt fan 21: Why, thank you good Sir (or Ma'am :P) I'm happy you enjoyed it, thanks for the review!
Rachel Mantegna: Well, I happen to be known for greatness... *crickets chirp* heh, just kidding! XD Glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing!
