Here's an late Christmas gift/early New Year gift to you guys! :D New chapter, this quick. Hahaha. The next one should follow… erm, it might take a little long, but… maybe it won't… heh.

Thanks for all the quick reviews!!!! :) (and here's a quick post in reply. hahaha.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL (in 12 hours for me, anyway xD) sooooo... here's the next chappie!

OC alert! You'll see her when you see her. :)

Disclaimer: Nothing I've posted, or am posting, do I own.

Riley stood in the distance, staring at Ben with shock. Of course, he should have expected seeing him here in Washington D.C., but it was Ben. After all these years, he would see Ben again; the man who was a former close associate, someone who blamed him for something that he never really did, from whom Riley ran off…

He shook his head. He was here to enjoy his evening with his wife of seven years, Ashley Morgan (or Ash, as he called her) and not think about past lives that he was determined to Ben was here. He really was here. Riley shook his head again and tried not think about it, and turned away.

His wife knew, of course; he never kept any secrets from her (well, almost). Riley wished that Ben wasn't here, but it turned out that the owner of the company was Ben's friend. It was a good thing the owner didn't recognize Riley, and no word went to Ben about his stay in Washington D.C.

Ashley's arm wrapped around Riley's bicep, and he kept close. "That's Ben, Justin."

"I know." Riley murmured. He looked at Ashley and he grinned a little, masking the look of pain that had made its way to his face. "Think the kids would prefer that we tuck them in tonight?"

Ashley's smile was one of concern, but she agreed. Riley glanced around, and spotted the owner of the company he was working for, Mr. Richard Reed, a tall, muscular man that looked more like Clark Kent than Reed Richards. As one of the most trusted "advisers" and friends of Mr. Reed, Riley had free passes to elaborate dinners such as this. Before, he found them utterly boring and would rather not go anywhere near some, but as he grew older he found that they weren't that bad at all (besides, free gourmet food, new contacts, and small dinner date with his wife – win-win, eh?). Besides, being close to the man on top gives him license to dress as weird as possible. He would have worn his trusty converses if it didn't look silly on a thirty-seven-year old man wearing a suit and tie.

"Give me a few minutes, dear. I'm just going to tell Mr. Reed that we're going."

"I'll be by the bar honey."

"Okay." Riley gave her a quick nod, and another smile. He made a beeline for Mr. Reed, and was about to tell him his message but the big boss immediately grabbed him with a meaty hand and drew him close. "Oof – Mr. Reed I have to –"

"Give me a second here Carpenter. I want to introduce you to a close friend and associate of mine, I'm sure you've heard of him, someone who had found those two big treasures –" Oh damn, was the only thing that went through Riley's head as he tried to shrink into a little pea, but since that didn't work, he had his face smooth into a stoic, passive expression. "– Mr. Benjamin Franklin Gates."

Ben turned, and Riley tried again, vainly, to slip from Mr. Reed's grip. Ben's eyes settled on Riley, and it widened in shock. "Ben, here's Justin Carpenter; the man I was telling you about. He developed that security system – ParaShield 3.0 or something like that – the genius that protects the secrets of my company and many others. He's a trusted employee; head of the technical security team." Mr. Reed beamed at Riley, and Riley managed a small smile.

Riley held out a tense hand, and Ben reached out to shake it. "Nice to finally meet you, R- Mr. Carpenter."

"You too, Mr. Gates." Riley whispered, and turned to whisper to Mr. Reed. Mr. Reed frowned, but gave Riley a slap on his back. "Mr. Reed, Mr. Gates, I'm afraid I have to excused. My wife is waiting for me by the bar; she's tired. We also have to check in on the children, so we have to leave." Riley's mouth worked automatically. "Please excuse me." He made a brisk nod at Ben, who managed an "I hope to see you around, Mr. Carpenter." Mr. Reed's wide smile had entered his face again, and he hooked an arm around Ben. "You two would get along well." He remarked, and Riley imperceptibly grimaced. You have no idea. "Carpenter – I'll see you tomorrow at that brunch."

"Yes sir. Good evening Mr. Reed, Mr. Gates." And Riley collected his wife, and they made their way back to the hotel.

Ben felt frozen. He just saw Riley. He was positive it was Riley, though a little thinner and more muscular, a little stubble, lines creasing his forehead, a lot older… it was still Riley. He would recognize him anywhere.

Apparently, he was "Justin Carpenter" now, and Ben understood why "Riley Poole's" record suddenly faded into nothing. Ben frowned. How many times have Riley changed his name? Two? Three? Five? It seemed like the young man was used to it. Nobody would be able to make the connection between the records, except for little similarities, and of course, the pictures.

But that wasn't what was solely on Ben's mind. What nagged at him was that Riley was here, the Riley that he had been looking for ten years – his best friend, his brother…. someone he drove away after some accusations that hadn't been founded on logic, but was instead brought about by sheer anger of the moment. He drove Riley away.

Even through time, the guilt didn't go away. Whoever told him that it would get easier was a horrible liar.

Riley, or Justin, Ben corrected himself, was apparently married. And he had kids. Ben had always imagined that he'd see Riley's children grow up, and Riley his. That was ten years ago, and Ben knew he should have expected better. But he didn't.

What was worse that he knew it was all his fault.

All he knew was that he wanted his best friend back. It might sound really childish and juvenile, but he actually missed Riley, and want him back.

He just wanted everything to be right again.

Ashley Morgan watched her husband, Justin Carpenter, or Riley Poole, closely as they drove back to the hotel. He was quiet, and it unnerved her. Her husband was never quiet. Or if he was, there would be a comfortable buzz about him.

This Riley beside her, though, was rather painfully quiet. The air around him was sharp with long-almost-forgotten pain, and it felt different.

Things like this made her feel like she didn't know her husband at all.

He has too many secrets. Secrets that he can't tell, even to me.

She understood some of it, really. But sometimes, she just thought that Riley simply couldn't bear all this alone. Nobody deserves to bear anything like this alone.

"Honey?" Ashley's hand moved to Riley's palm, and Riley closed his fingers over it.

"Hey." Riley murmured with a smile.

"Are you okay?" Ashley asked. She squeezed Riley's hand.

"Yeah. I will be."

"But are you?" Ashley insisted.

Riley squeezed Ashley's hand, and left it at that. Ashley knew better than to try and force an answer out of Riley – he would probably just snap. The first time she tried that, Riley almost screamed at her, but instead he just walked out of the restaurant and leaned over the car wearily. The second time, she got the same treatment. She never tried again.

They arrived at the hotel, and both made their way up to the suite. Ashley pulled the blanket over their sleeping kids, and kissed them on the forehead. Riley kissed them on the forehead, too, and whispered his love and a prayer to both. They left the room, and Ashley thanked her personal babysitter. The sitter retired to her own bed, and that left Ashley and Riley in the suite's living room.

"Riley? Do you want to talk about it?" Ashley said, using Riley's real name this time. Mostly, she used Justin, but when she was trying to get some answers (or when she was really angry) she used his real name.

Riley shook his head, and instead sipped from his coffee mug. Ashley sighed. "Are you sure?" Riley nodded, and Ashley sighed. She stood up to go to bed, and maybe take a nice, long hot shower first…

"I don't understand it, Ash."

Ashley stopped, and turned to look at Riley. "What don't you understand?" She sat back down again.

"I hate him, Ashley. We were friends for years, and one simple misunderstanding he…" Riley placed his coffee down. "I never wanted to see him again, and now this."

Ashley smiled sadly at Riley, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, the past can never be changed. But it's been years – maybe you should give him a chance."

Riley shook his head, and shrugged Ashley's hand off. "You don't understand." He murmured, and left for the bedroom.

Ashley sighed again. "Yes, I don't understand. Not until you tell me."

Abigail yawned. The kids were tucked in, the dishes were in the dishwasher, and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed. But she still waited for Ben. It had been their routine to wait for each other when someone was late.

Abigail looked around the house. Toys were strewn about – the housekeeper had not cleaned up for the night yet. Abigail had told her to go to bed early tonight, that the cleaning could wait until tomorrow. Abigail sank in the soft couch, and she took in the sight.

It was just like this ten years ago. She thought to herself. Abigail felt a pang of sadness as she observed the house.

Ever since Riley left, everything had been a little different.

There was no one stirring up a storm of left behind gadgets and toys (except her children, but they arrived only a few years back, and it wasn't the same), no one talking up a tirade about crop circles and what else could be hidden in the President's secret book, no one suddenly appearing in the kitchen in the middle of a night for a mug of hot milk and a chocolate chip cookie (not even her kids did that.)

It was different. It was 'quiet', but something was missing.

She couldn't believe how used she was to Riley's presence around the house, that even after ten years, she still missed him terribly.

Abigail wondered what happened to him.

After the misunderstanding (misunderstanding might be an understatement) that Ben and Riley had, Abigail had tried to console Ben, telling him that there was no harm done, that they got the money back anyway… but the man wouldn't listen. Ben went on about Riley abusing their trust and grabbing their money like it was his – Abigail wanted to reason out for Riley. After all, he was Ben's best friend, and she knew it wasn't fair for Ben to just blame everything on Riley like that.

But Ben's mind wouldn't budge. She had learned to love and work around that resolute mind of his, but it was times like that that made Abigail want to punch him in the face and leave him.

And so she did slap him, and then told him that Riley was too important to Ben for him to alienate the techie just like that. "Ben! Riley's your best friend! I doubt that he, of all people, would do this to you! I'm sure it's all just a mix up at the bank." She had said. "Besides, haven't you ever thought of how many times you've taken him for granted? Don't tell me you don't do this Ben, I've seen you. Then you go ahead and do this to him?" She had walked out on him then to let off steam, and came back after a couple of days.

She found Ben frantically calling people, papers strewn about. He looked tired, his eyes bloodshot – he looked panicked and frightened. "Riley's gone."

"What do you mean gone?"

"I mean just… gone! Just like that! I called his numbers, I emailed him, I even went on his blog, his facebook… I went to his apartment – he doesn't even live there anymore." Ben ran fingers through his hair. "He's gone!"

Abigail's heart quickened. "He… it's…" She grabbed her phone, and made some calls of her own.

Weeks passed, and still no sign, no news of Riley.

After a month they started moving on little by little, but once in a while Abigail would hear Ben on the phone, talking to Sadusky, asking about tabs on Riley or something.

Abigail sighed, and glanced around the house again. No, nothing is the same without Riley.

The door opened, and Ben rushed over to her, took her in his arms, and squeezed her tight. She felt hot tears drop on her sleeve, and she turned to look at Ben.

There was a huge smile on his face, and he was crying.

"Ben? What is it?" Abigail asked.

"I found him, Abigail. I found Riley."

Okay, so… erm… review, please! Hehehe. Next chap's gonna come - not as soon as this one, but I hope it'll come way before January ends, lol.

-Jaeh