Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure.

A/N: The idea of what this chapter is based around has to do with a suggestion made by one of my loyal reviewers: daisyduke80. I thank her a lot for her ideas that help me continue this story. Also, thank you to all of the people who reviewed the last chapter and have been sticking with me. I really appreciate it.


"Don't speak again."

Riley fell silent as the gun that Ian was holding was leveled with his chest. "O...kay," he whispered, feeling the slight urge to get the last word in regardless that his life was being threatened. Ben was trying to negotiate with Ian about leaving them down in the tunnels to die, but Ian, being the slightly psychotic person he was, thought that his plan was a good one. Nothing was working to change his mind until Patrick told him the next clue.

Riley felt a small hope rise in him again that perhaps they wouldn't be left to die in the tunnels, but it was soon dashed as Ian decided to leave them anyways. He had the next clue too, so he would get the treasure and they would die. Excellent combination. Riley's panic overrode his logic and he spoke up again in desperation to make Ian change his mind, even after Ian clearly told him not to talk again. It proved to be a mistake as the gun fired and Riley was powerless to stop it from hitting him. He remembered the falling sensation, the pain in his chest, and Abi's scream of horror before he hit the ground. Riley was almost sure that he could hear Ian laughing evilly in the background, but he wasn't sure if it really happened.

"Riley, wake up!"

Riley jerked awake and immediately regretted it as his wound pulled and a sharp pain ran through him.

"Ow…"

"Are you okay?"

Riley recognized Ben's voice before he looked up to see his friend standing beside his bed. Ben's fingers pried Riley's own away from the injury site so he could make sure that he was okay.

"Do you need some of the meds?" Ben asked and Riley shook his head.

"No, I am fine," he said through gritted teeth, sounding anything but fine. Ben dumped one of the capsules from the medicine bottle into Riley's hand before leaving to retrieve some water to help him get the pill down. He didn't believe the act one bit.

From the hospital, Ben had driven Riley directly to his and Abi's new house. Abi and he had both agreed that it would be easier to watch over Riley if he was in their house with them. Of course, they had told Riley that is was only because they were feeling nice and they wouldn't have let him stay any other time so he didn't protest to the idea. They both knew the real reason. Their new mansion was more then big enough for the three of them, anyhow, and Ben had promised to grab some things from Riley's apartment tomorrow and bring it over for him. For now, though, they had to make it through the night.

Ben handed Riley the glass of water and watched him force down the pill with a grimace. The doctor had warned Ben of possible nightmares that Riley was bound to have, but Ben didn't think that he would have them himself as well. He had already been awake from the nightmares when he had heard Riley having one, too. Every time he closed his eyes, Ben saw Ian shooting Riley and the scene haunted him. He could only imagine what it was like for the person who had actually gotten shot.

"Sorry, I woke you," Riley said, interrupting Ben's train of thoughts.

"I was awake already. I have bad dreams, too."

Riley shifted himself carefully so he was sitting up on the bed, leaning against the headboard. He really wished that he had this laptop with him to keep him occupied and get his mind away from the bad memories.

"You don't plan on going back to sleep any time soon?" Ben asked and Riley shrugged half-heartily.

"I don't think I can until the medication kicks in. I am going to be a druggie for a while, huh?" he said while gesturing to the various medicines lying on the nightstand beside the bed.

"Yeah, at least until the wound is fully healed." Ben fell silent for a minute, watching Riley pick at a loose thread in the blankets. "How about a late night snack to take your mind off of things? Abi bought ice cream," Ben suggested and Riley's mood instantly lifted at the mention of ice cream. He nodded eagerly.

"Okay," Ben said with a small laugh. "I'll bring it up here so you don't have to move too much."

The ice cream was eaten in silence with Riley sitting at the head of the bed with Ben at the foot, leaning against the footboard, facing him. Ben didn't risk starting a conversation until he was almost done eating.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Riley blinked slowly at him, pausing with a spoonful of ice cream half way up to his mouth.

"No, I just want to eat it."

"Not the ice cream. Your nightmares," Ben replied, scraping out the last of the ice cream from his bowl.

"Is it really a nightmare if it already happened to you?" Riley asked curiously.

"Riley…"

"Honestly, Ben, I don't," Riley answered, practically licking his bowl clean before sitting it on the nightstand, which was becoming crowded. Riley could feel the medication finally starting to work and he was becoming tired to the point where he felt detached from reality. Ben seemed to notice.

Ben stacked his own bowl in Riley's and debated taking one of Riley's medications for himself since it worked well.

"Maybe another time, Ben…" Riley said as he got back under the covers and started to drop back off into sleep almost instantly. Ben counted the seconds that it took him to fall asleep. It was only about eight. Ben watched him for a long time from his seat at the end of the bed. After he deemed that Riley was in a peaceful sleep, he quickly followed him. It chased his own bad dreams away knowing that the kid was safe.