Summary: The long-awaited sequel to Tori's and Halo's random silliness. Title still says it all, and please bear in mind, we're still just having fun. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I wish we could say differently this second time around, but even though we've now been a part of National Treasure, we still own nothing. Except ourselves, of course.

Authors' A/N: Hello again, and look! We have an update for you so very soon. Can you believe it, Tori-kins? Oh, it's so exciting to be making progress again. And thanks, as always, to our dear friends who are still R&R-ing! And now here we go, moving right along into Chapter Ten.

Chapter 10

The following morning found Phil still agonizingly sore and Haley in an incessantly talkative mood.

"So, how exactly did you all end up together?"

"What?"

"You, and Ian and Company." Haley flinched, not believing she'd just used her old personal nickname for Ian and his gang. It must've slipped, but thankfully, Phil didn't seem to find it strange.

"I don't think I ever did hear the whole story of how he found you."

"Actually, it's more a question of how I found him." Phil grinned, his eyes growing slightly distant as he reminisced. "I was twenty-three – your age – and after some rather…stupid decisions, I ended up owing a lot of money to some people around town – people you typically didn't want to get involved with, much less have them after you to pay off an old debt.

"But stealing is what had gotten me into that mess, and I'd been hoping it would also get me out. So, I ended up targeting the house of a rich Englishman who'd moved into the nicer side of town with some friends only about a year earlier."

"No way!" Haley sat up straighter and stared at him, incredulous yet terribly amused. "Are you serious? You actually met Ian because you robbed him?"

"Basically. I got into their house one night when they were away – out pulling a job of their own, as I found out later. But I broke in without much trouble, even though Ian had the place equipped with all kinds of security."

"Well, that's not surprising."

"Not at all, but it ended up helping me later on. At the time, I had no idea what he actually did, only that it must have paid insanely well."

"True that. So…" she prompted. "What happened? Did they catch you?"

"I'm getting to that, Sweetheart, now just listen." Phil tried to be stern, without much luck when Haley looked back at him and batted her eyes in all childlike innocence.

He went on, "Everything went smoothly until the very end, just as I was ready to leave. They got back about two hours earlier than I'd expected, and yes, I was caught."

Haley held her breath. She was so intrigued in the tale, she forgot that she already knew the ultimately happy ending. But what happened in between was an entirely different matter.

"What happened next?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You ask way too many questions, Haley. Now will you please be quiet so I can finish the story?"

The fidgety brunette clamped her mouth shut and nodded. He sounded just like her dad, telling her to "stop asking questions" while they were watching a movie. Phil acknowledged her compliance with a small nod of his own.

"Good. Now, as I was saying, they caught me red-handed. I almost got away, but Shaw still caught up with me somehow. He was not happy, and I thought for sure I was a dead man."

Haley gulped. No kidding! "But how on earth did he catch you? You're so much taller than him, and after all those years of playing basketball in school, surely you can run faster than him."

"That's what I thought, too," her companion agreed, too preoccupied with the memory to remind her to be quiet again. "I'm still trying to figure out how he managed it."

"But then what happened?" That earned her another glare from Phil, and Haley immediately shushed up again so he could continue.

"Well, one way or another, he caught me, and I seriously thought I was going to die."

She rapidly nodded her encouragement. It was understandable.

"But, thankfully, Ian got there before Shaw could kill me. He asked me some questions and was actually very impressed with my work, especially the mechanical aspect of things. Long story short, the offer was that I could either start working with them, or let Shaw have his fun. I've been working with them ever since."

Haley beamed. Hooray for the Happy Ending! "But what about the guys you owed money to?"

"Oh, them?" Phil chuckled, grimacing a little when it still pained him. "Shaw got to have his fun with them instead, and strangely enough, we never heard from any of them again. Funny how that works, huh?"

"Yeah – funny."

But the irony of the whole story, coupled with the unshakable tension of the past few days, finally became too much, and Haley burst out into truly hysterical laughter. Phil eyed her warily, unsure if he was still safe with her in this state, as she gasped for breath and tried to compose herself. But it had simply been too long since she'd had a good laugh, and it was just the thing she needed.

Phil just stared at her, eyebrows raised, and wondering how much longer this insanity was could possibly go on. He had heard her laugh, of course, and many times, but he had never quite seen her "lose it" like this before.

At a loss for anything else to say, he stoically observed, "When you laugh like that, Sweetheart, it sounds like a squeaky door hinge."

But all that did was set her off again. Poor Phil would never know it, but her family of old had often described her crazy laugh with those exact same words. And now, as it always did then, it just made her laugh harder.

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Tori watched, once again fascinated, as Emily squinted over her glasses to translate the picture of the second plank. It was only Ben and Tori this time, since the latter just couldn't wait to see her new friend again and was understandably concerned about her safety. She needn't have worried.

As the minutes ticked by for the three of them sitting on the couch, the nineteen-year-old concluded that this plot line was infinitely better at least in the respect that Emily didn't have to get blackmailed and kidnapped by Mitch again. Instead, it had to be Phil and Haley who got captured, but at least neither of them were sweet old ladies who gave her hugs.

"So we're going to Mt. Rushmore?" Ben verified when his mother was finished.

"That's right," the elderly woman confirmed, "we are. And now, if you'll just give me a few moments, I'll get my bag, and we can be on our way."

Her son balked. "What? Mom, you're not serious?"

"Of course, I am. Ben, I've been ready to go since the day you brought in that first plank, because I knew somehow you would also find the second. I don't know what sort of treasure-hunting mischief your father has all of you mixed up in this time around, but when it so closely involves my personal historical specialty, you should know I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Ben pursed his lips, putting forth his last feeble argument as his mother retrieved a suitcase from beneath her desk.

"Okay, but Dad's not gonna' be too happy."

Tori, for her part, was grinning from ear to ear, simply elated. Emily was coming with them after all!

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As their entire group strode across the tarmac toward the private plane that would carry them to Mt. Rushmore, Riley found the whole scenario highly inconceivable.

"Ian, how can you possibly be using one of your own private planes? You're still on the run! Hasn't the FBI frozen all of your assets or something like that?"

"All of 'Ian Howe's' assets, yes," the Englishman admitted. "But come now, Riley, do you really believe that this plane is registered under the name 'Ian Howe'?"

The techie had no answer for him, only lowered his eyes and glared down at his Converses, but Tori hesitantly cleared her throat. There was so much riding on this next question, no matter what "universe" she was in.

"But, 'Ian Howe' is your real name, right?"

Ian cast a sidelong glance back in her direction. "As far as you're concerned, my dear – yes."

Riley's blue eyes shot back up, and he bristled inexplicably at the "my dear." Yes, he knew it was just Ian being British, but it still roused his ire as though the man had fiddled with the settings on his precious laptop.

"Does Shaw know your real name?" Tori pressed, looking hopefully up at the bald man walking in front of her.

"Yes, he does."

"Any chance he'd tell me?"

"None whatsoever, luv. But you never know – it could be 'Ian Howe' after all."

The blonde Englishman smiled mischievously and threw a wink of blatant conspiracy over at Shaw, who made no comment.

"I hope it doesn't rain," Patrick muttered as they boarded the plane.

But Tori, who knew better, looked up at the sky and pouted when she saw only azure blue.

"I hope it does."

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The flight to South Dakota was for the most part uneventful, but Tori did remember to wave "Hi" to Haley's friend who lived in Sioux Falls when they flew over. That was, of course, considering her friend was actually still there in this strange movie-verse.

While on the plane, they had also discovered that Powell had remembered at the last possible minute to bring along a considerable amount of rope, and that he was determined to keep it with him throughout the duration of their next adventure. "A length of good, sturdy rope is something no decent treasure hunter should ever leave home without," he'd stated.

Of course, his coworkers had badgered him about it ruthlessly, as was their wont, but it very much reminded Tori of Samwise Gamgee in "The Lord of the Rings." She didn't know if this rope would come in as handy for them as it had for those two little Hobbits on their way to Mordor, but it was still a cute thought, nonetheless.

And instead of being bound for Mount Doom, they were off to Mount Rushmore!

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Haley was bored. Again. And they were running out of things to talk about. Such was the setting under which she eagerly brought up their next topic.

"So, when did you first realize that the two of us actually had something going together?"

Phil arched his eyebrows at her in surprise. He was probably sick of her questions by now, but this subject would be too much fun to pass up.

He appeared to think about it for a moment, then replied, "That night in the hotel room when you stepped on me, and Shaw gave us a hard time about it."

Haley laughed, although this time it was under control. "Oh, Shaw. What a guy! I really do hope we get to see him again."

"Me, too. 'Cause as mad as I was at him that night, I had to admit later on that he was actually on to something. When did you first know?"

"A little later," she answered, smiling fondly. "The next day under Trinity Church."

Phil grinned back at her, a twinkle lighting up his dark eyes. "You mean our walk back through the dark tunnel?"

Haley blushed but sheepishly shook her head. "Well, the tunnel was when I first knew you felt the same way, but actually, I was thinking more of the time when you saved my life."

"Oh, when I stopped you from falling after everything started to collapse in the shaft?"

She shook her head again. "Nope."

Her companion frowned, now thoroughly confused. "Then when?"

"When you rescued me from the cockroach, of course! You were my knight in shining armor, saving my life from that evil little monster of death."

Phil rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. Some things just never changed.

But by the end of the day, even Haley had exhausted herself from talking, and she lay back down next to Phil, planting a kiss on his cheek and resting her head on his shoulder. He took her hand as she fell asleep, and that was where the night left them.

Halo's A/N: Aw, how sweet, if I do say so myself. Ya know, if it weren't for being cooped up all the time, maybe I could get used to this whole kidnapping idea after all. Catch ya later!

Tori's A/N: Lol, I'm sure you would like being kidnapped with Phil, Halo. Anyway… so, we're on our way to Mount Rushmore! Horray! I've always wanted to go there! But, not really under these circumstances… Oh, well. With Ian (if that's even his name…) and Company there, things should go smoothly… Right?