A/N: So I got a lot of reviews complaining about the cliff hanger, so I figured I'd get this out there ASAP. And, what do you know, I did.
Disclaimer: Must we do this every time? It's starting to depress me.
Riley sat, anxiously tapping his worn-out Converse against the end of the wooden pew. The time was ticking by slowly. Too slowly, if you asked the computer geek. Really, how hard was it to go down, find the clue, get the treasure, give it to Ian, and rescue him? Riley thought for a moment, realizing that it probably was easier said than done, but still that didn't do much in the way of helping his short attention span and his inability to keep still for more than a few minutes at a time. At least he had the something to think about to make the moments pass by bit faster, or seem like it anyway. The techie replayed that amazing, long desired kiss in his head over and over again. He closed his eyes and left his mind drift into more Ben oriented thoughts.
Just then, the door to the basement flew open, hitting the wall with a loud thud that shock Riley from his utopian day-dream. His blue eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright, the sudden jolt sending shooting pains through his body. The techie turned to see Ian standing in the doorway, looking almost murderous. Riley's heart started to pound as the Brit converged on him, his hands morphing into fists at his sides. Fear quickly turned to utter panic as Riley came to the realization that Ben was nowhere to be seen. Was he hurt or worse…did Ian get his treasure, kill Ben, and now come up here to finish the computer geek off?
Riley's thoughts were once again cut off when Ian's fist connected with his jaw, sending him flailing off the pew and face first onto the floor. The techie gasped as the breath left his lungs and sent him into a coughing fit. He felt the stomping of Ian's heavy boots and saw them drawing closer to him. Stumbling to get to his feet, Riley was caught off guard when his attacker roughly hoisted him up by the hoodie, nearly choking him in the process.
"I have some bad news," Ian growled right into Riley's ear. "The great Benjamin Gates didn't find the treasure, and oh would you look at that? Time's up."
Ben didn't know how he and Abigail did it, but somehow, the two historians managed to get out of the tomb in a matter of minutes. They were now scrambling to get out of the tunnel and get up the stairs before it was too late.
"Abigail, get Sadusky on the phone, tell him it's an emergency," The treasure hunter order the blonde as soon as he cleared the tunnel.
"Ben I don't have a—" She began, out of breath from the strenuous workout of getting out of a secret ancient passageway.
"Here," Ben produced his cell phone and quickly handed it off to her. "Now go! Hurry!"
With an affirmative nod, Dr. Chase ran to the nearest window and started to dial the FBI agent's number. Ben waited a few seconds until her heard Abigail start explaining hurriedly their current situation to Sadusky, and then bolted up the stairs taking them two at a time. He finally reached the top landing and burst through the door, nearly taking it off the hinges.
"Ian, stop!"
The Brit looked up from where he held Riley his knees, fresh blood covering the computer geeks mouth, pointing a gun to the back of his head. "Ah, Ben, You're just in time. I would've just killed myself if you missed out on this glorious occasion."
"Let him go, Ian," The treasure hunter demanded, trying to keep the emotion in voice to a minimum.
"I'm afraid I can't do that Ben," Ian shrugged off the thought like he was dealing with something less valuable then human life. "You knew my deal; you broke it, so now your friend here shall suffer the consequences." Ian cocked his gun, taking aim at the back of the techie's neck.
"No!" Ben lunged at Ian, who at the last minute turned the gun on the treasure hunter. The bullet hit Ben's shoulder, sending him flying back onto the floor. He clutched the wounded area just as the crimson color of blood began to show on his jacket.
"Ohmygod, Ben!" Came Riley's broken cry, as the firearm found its way back to his head.
"Don't speak again," Ian sneered.
"Okay." The techie gulped, training his eyes on the injured treasure hunter. Ben made a move to get up, but was stopped dead in his tracks when the barrel of the gun was facing him.
"Where do you think you're going? Shaw, take care of him." Ian looked to his flunky and nodded toward the historian. Shaw walked over and yanked Ben off the ground, keeping a firm grip on his unaffected arm. Ian lowered his gun for a moment, letting out a malevolent chuckle.
"Ben, Ben, Ben. Always has to be the hero," the Brit shook his head and placed his free hand on his hip. "This whole thing would've never happen if it had not been for you. You're friend would've been safe and you wouldn't be standing here with a bullet in your shoulder, but for some reason, you take it upon yourself to do what is right. And now, because of your 'heroic' attempts, Riley's going to suffer tenfold." A wicked smile curled up the ends of Ian's lips.
Ben said nothing. He couldn't. His mind, for once, was completely and totally blank and his face, stark white as he watched Ian move towards the techie, and strike him across the face with his gun. Ben watched in horror as Riley almost landed face first onto the floor, thankfully stopping himself from getting a face full of tile with his shaky hands. The fresh blood trickled down his face and the techie let out the smallest whimper of pain, trying as hard as he could to stay strong for Ben.
"Now, Ben," Ian flipped his blond, sweat-soaked hair out of his face and turned toward the treasure hunter. "You and I both know that there's something you're not telling me about this so-called 'dead end'."
This made Riley interested. The techie wiped the droplets of blood from his mouth and raised his head, just enough to make eye contact with Ben. As the treasure hunter explained to Ian that a dead end was a dead end and that there was no way of ever finding the Templar treasure now, Riley saw the faint twinkle of a signal in the ice blue eyes of Benjamin Gates. The younger man looked from Ben to Ian and back again, questioning with his eyes, whether or not the look was legit, making sure that was what Ben wanted to do. He nodded with his eyes and Riley took a deep breath and waited a few seconds, before slowly getting to his feet.
"Hey, Ian?"
Caught off guard by the unexpected sound of the voice behind him, the Brit turned around as Riley's fist connected with his face, propelling him backwards onto the ground. What happened next happened so fast that to this day, it still remains a blur in Ben's mind. All he remembers was the sound of a gunshot echoing through the walls of the church, Riley clutching his side as the bullet entered his body, and faltering before collapsing onto the carpeted floor of the church.
A/N: Ok so by now everyone probably wants to kill me, but you can't 'cause then I won't be able to finish this story and we'll never know if Riley survives…even though I don't think I have the heart to kill him… maybe beat him up quite a bit, but that's it. Review por favor!!!!