Disclaimer: Nothing you know is mine. Only Mia...

A/N: So here's a long chapter for you. I think it's the longest one I've written so far. Over four thousand words for you. Review if you feel the need to.

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"Ben!" Ian said as the other man got out of the car. "You all right? No broken bones? A jump like that could kill a man."

"Nah," Ben replied. "It was cool. You should try it sometime." Apparently Ian missed the hidden meaning in the statement because he didn't make a come back.

"The Declaration," he said placing the document on the top of the car, "and the Meerschaum pipe. All yours." People passed back and forth near them, but paid no mind to what was an escaped convict and a kidnapper.

"That's it?" Ben asked obviously skeptical. "And what about Mia?"

"That's it," Ian confirmed. "And all in good time. I knew you'd keep your promise. Now where is it? Where's my treasure?"

"It's right here," Ben said. "The map said 'Heere at the wall' spelled with two e's. Wall Street follows the path of an actual wall that the Dutch settlers built to keep the British out. The main gate was located at a street called Deheere. Also two e's. Later the Deheere street was renamed Broadway once the British got in. So 'Heere at the wall'. Wall Street, Broadway." Ben sighed, picked up the two items on the car and said in a fake British accent, "Cheerio."

"Just a moment Ben," Ian said rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Ian, if you break our deal, the FBI will be only a few minutes behind you," Ben warned. "You might get away, you might not."

"Is that all the map said?" Ian asked, trying to catch Ben in a lie.

Ben hesitated for a split second then said, "Every word."

Apparently he did catch him because he chuckled. "You know the key to running a convincing bluff?" Ian asked. "Every once in a while, you've got to be holding all the cards." He motioned behind him and Phil, which Ben noticed had a broken nose, opened a car door on the other side of the street. Patrick Gates leaned forward and met the eyes of his son.

"Dad..." he said with sad eyes.

"And of course we can't forget lovely Mia, now can we?" he asked with another flick of his hand. Phil then went to the other side of the vehicle, opened the door and grabbed Mia by the arm. He then brought her roughly around to the back of the car, where Ben could get a full view of his sister.

He saw her face was covered in bruised and she walked with a slight limp. "You sonovabitch," Ben whispered through gritted teeth. "I swear to God I'll-"

"I don't think you're in the position to be making threats," Ian said glancing back over to the car. Ben saw his sister close her eyes, so he looked down to her waist. Phil had a gun trained on her stomach. Ben stopped himself from doing anything stupid and Phil returned his sister to the car.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Ian asked.

"Trinity Church," Ben mumbled. "We have to go inside Trinity Church."

"Good. Excellent. Why don't you ask Dr. Chase and Riley to join us?" he suggested. "I'm sure they're around here somewhere..."

He closed his eyes and nodded, knowing all his friends were in danger. They walked to the other side of the street to where the large, intricate wooden doors marked the entrance to the huge Catholic church. "Just, let me talk to her," Ben begged just before they walked inside.

"Fiveminutes," Ian replied. Nodding to one of his henchmen, he brought Mia over and roughly tossed her to Ben. Her brother actually had to catch her before she fell to the floor from the force of the shove.

Up close, the bruises were very fresh and black and blue. There were a few cuts on her face and her nose looked the tiniest bit swollen. Ben also noticed when she took in a deep breath, she winced slightly as if it hurt to breathe. "Oh, God..." he whispered. His eyes scanning her injuries. "I am so sor-" he started but Mia cut him off with raising a simple hand.

"Do not say you're sorry. This is not your fault and I don't want you to feel like it is. Whatever he did to me, was not because of you," she stated clearly. "Besides, it's looks worse than it is. Ian hits like a girl," she joked.

"Mia, you're my sister. I know you're trying to make me feel better, but I know you're lying," he said. Her voice said no yet her eyes told him everything. Her eyes averted his and she blinked several times. He continued, "And I couldn't protect you. How am I supposed to feel?"

"A little guilty," she admitted, "but not to the point where you should think everything is your fault."

Ben nodded slowly and then looked her directly in the eye. "Did he- Did he do anything else..." he trailed off.

"No," she said as soon as she realized what he was getting at. "No he didn't. Thank God," she added, technically telling the truth. He didn't do it and that was all her brother needed to know.

"You'd tell me if he did though, right?" he wondered.

"Of course," she replied. "Of course I would."

Ben nodded and said, "You should probably tell all of that to Riley too."

"You didn't tell him it was his fault, did you?" she asked with a sad look in her eye.

"What do you expect?" Ben asked trying to justify himself. "I trusted him with you and he couldn't even keep you away from them."

"God, Ben," she said putting a hand on her forehead. "You know that he tried. Shouldn't that be good enough for you?"

"What if you had died? What is something else had happened to you?' he asked with as sad expression.

"Then it would have happened. And it would have been no one's fault except for my own. Okay? Don't forget to apologize to him. Because he'll keep thinking you blame him even if you don't." Ben nodded and Ian came over.

"Time's up," he said taking Ben by the arm. Shippen came over and grabbed Mia roughly and pushed her into a pew.

"No need to be so violent!" she hissed at the man. He responded with a tight grunt and a controlling hand on her shoulder as if daring her to make a move.

She then heard Ben say to their father, "Are you all right?"

"What do you think?" Patrick asked. "I'm a hostage!" Patrick was then shoved into a pew as well.

"Let them go Ian," Ben said.

"When we find the treasure," he replied.

"No now!" he ordered taking out the glasses and the pipe and shoving them into the blond man's arms. "Or you can figure out the clues for yourself. Good luck."

"Ben, I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation," Ian said. The doors to the church opened and Riley and Abigail were shoved through into their own pew. "Let's take a look at that map." Ben and Ian slid into their own pew, the former quite reluctantly, and Ben took out the Declaration and the glasses. He was the first one to put them on and he let out a stifled gasp. There on the back of the paper was another clue. It was a cross of sorts with strands of ribbon wrapping around it. On the ribbon there were words. It said 'Beneath Parkington Lane' and it confused Ben. They'd have to go somewhere else now? It just didn't make any sense.

"Well, it's- It's really quite remarkable. Take a look," he said handing the glasses to Ian.

"Parkington lane," Ian muttered.

"Beneath Parkington lane," Ben corrected.

"Why would the map lead us here then take us somewhere else?" Ian asked with a confused expression. "What's the purpose?"

"Just another clue!" Patrick yelled from behind them.

"Dad!" Ben yelled in warning.

"I just think the Founding Fathers were sick and twisted," Mia whispered to the man beside her. He rolled his eyes and told her to shut up. "Well!" Mia shrugged and turned back to listening what Ben was saying.

"You're right Parkington lane has to be here somewhere."

"A street inside a church," Ian muttered.

"Not inside, beneath. Beneath the church," Ben said. At this Ian ordered everyone to stand up and start towards a door on the other end of the church that lead to the boiler room. Mia hung back to talk to Riley, while still being watched by Ian's psycho assistants.

"Oh, man..." Riley whispered upon seeing her face.

"Don't you even think about saying you're sorry," Mia said shaking her head with her hand gently placed on his chest. "It is not your fault. Don't even think that it is. I already had this discussion with my brother. I do not need to have it with you so please don't make me."

"I'm sorry," he said against her advice.

"Riley..." she sighed. "I did this. I talked back to Ian. Me, not you." The young man sighed and nodded his head.

"But its not gonna stop me from feeling a little guilty," he replied.

"I know. Just don't beat yourself up. No pun intended," she added.

His smile returned and he responded, "Well, it's good to see your sarcasm wasn't affected."

"Nothing can affect my sarcasm. You of all people should know that one," she said. "Let's go look." Riley agreed and they wandered around the boiler room under the church.

When they reached a wall, Riley exclaimed "Hey! Hey, I-I found it!"

"Him," Mia corrected seeing it was a head stone. "Unless you know something I don't." Riley rolled his eyes pretending to be annoyed as everyone came over to investigate the find. In reality, he was happy she was acting like she normally did. But make no mistake, he was going to ask about it later on.

"Parkington Lane," Ben said running his fingers over the engraved words. "To a third degree, master Mason of the Blue light- Hey!" he shouted when Shippen came over swinging a hammer. He then proceeded to smashed the wall revealing a coffin. All the men, minus Riley took out the coffin from the tomb. Unfortunately, the bottom of the coffin wasn't strong enough to hold the body and it broke, sending the remains of the man splattering all over the floor.

"Careful no one steps in him," Shippen replied.

"Okay," Riley said. "Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?"

"You know, I'm starting to think the Founding Fathers had a really twisted sense of humor," Mia supplied.

"Why's that?" Abigail asked.

"We have to inside a tomb!" she said giving her a weird look.

"Beneath," Ben muttered.

"What?"

"Technically we have to go beneath the tomb," he elaborated.

"Oh, like it makes a difference!" she snapped. "Inside, beneath. I'd rather stay outside the tomb but, you know, that's just me."

"You're going in," someone said.

"Who says?"

"Me," Ian said revealing his gun.

"Just kidding!" she said. "Looks like I'm going down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb." Ben, being who he was, offered to go first and everyone was quick to agree.

"McGreggor, Victor," Ian said before Ben had a chance to climb into the passage way. "Stay here. And if anyone should come out without me... Well, use your imagination," he finished sinisterly. Mia held back a shudder, knowing exactly what their hostage taker was capable of.

Ben then took that moment to crawl into the tiny space followed closely by Ian, then Mia, Riley, Abigail, and Shippen bringing up the rear. When the tunnel widened out, he found in front of him a torch. "You have a light?" he asked Ian. Not to his surprise, Ian pulled out a lighter and clicked it on. The fire lit the torch quite easily and it illuminated the path in front of him.

The flame flickered off the stone walls as the strange crew went through the strange tunnel. They reached a part in the tunnel where there was a significant drop downward. It wasn't enough to kill you but it was enough to cause someone to trip. Ben lingered to make sure everyone got through okay. When Mia walked by, she held onto Ben's shoulder for support. "You okay?" he asked.

"Naturally," she replied with a small smile.

Riley was next. "Hey, Riley," Ben said. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was frustrated that my sister was gone. I didn't mean to blame you. It really wasn't your fault."

Riley nodded with a smile and said, "I know you didn't mean it. If I was you I would have done the same thing. You don't need to apologize. But thank you though," he added with another smile. Ben smiled back and helped Riley down the ledge as well.

When Abigail passed by, he grabbed her arm, spun her around and kissed her. "It's about time," Mia whispered glancing behind her.

"What? You mean you're not jealous?" Riley asked.

"Nope," she replied. "Ben's my brother and I know no matter what, he'll always be my brother and no girl is going to change that. Not to mention I can tell they both really like each other. SO it figures he would finally kiss her. I was just wondering when he was going to do it. And now I don't have to wonder."

"I would have never thought of it that way," he mumbled.

Mia shrugged and heard Shippen ask in a sad voice behind her, "Why does that never happen to me?"

"Trust me dude, "Riley said. "You do not want us to answer that one for you." Mia chucked lightly in agreement.

All continued to walk down a dark and narrow hallway until they finally reached an opening. A large wooden structure was attached to a rope in front of them. Mia cocked her head to the side and stared at it curiously. Dipping her finger tips into what looked like oil, she figured out what it was. "Ben, hand me your torch," she asked.

Ben complied and she lit the substance in fire. The flames rushed around the wooden frame and Ian and Ben lowered it so they were able to see the entire room. It was a deep cavern with stairs lining the walls. "Look at the elevator system," Ben said in awe.

"Dumbwaiter system," Patrick added.

"How do a guys with a bunch of hand tools build all this?" Shippen asked.

"The same way they built the pyramids," Ben said.

"And the Great Wall of China," Mia added, she too looking around in awe.

"Yeah," Riley agreed. "The aliens helped them." Mia was snapped out of her trance and she gave Riley a strange look. "What?" he asked. "It's a plausible theory."

"Right," she said. "And dinosaurs aren't really extinct!" she said sarcastically.

But their fight was interrupted by Ian. "All right, let's go." He waited for Patrick to step out onto the stairs but he remained still. "What are you waiting for?" he asked.

"I'm not going out on that thing," Patrick retorted. "200 years of termite damage and rot..."

"Dad," Ben said. "Do what he says." Reluctantly, the eldest Gates walked out onto the rickety staircase. All of the crew slowly started their decent with Patrick first followed by Ian, Shaw, Abigail, Riley, Ben, then Mia coming up last.

As they walked the tunnel started to shake and Mia clung to Ben's shirt in fear. Gently, he laid a hand on her's and squeezed reassuringly. When the shaking stopped, Ian said, "Subway." Ben nodded and everyone started to move down the stairs.

There was a long crack from the old wood and Shaw fell right through the floor. Screaming, he plummeted to the black depths of the tunnel, until no one else could see him. There was another crack and the platform they were on started to fall.

Shippen launched himself at the nearest elevator, followed by Patrick and Ian. By some other miracle Ben, Mia, and Abigail found their way to another elevator. Riley had leaped to the nearest platform. "Mia!" Ben yelled. "Follow Riley!" She nodded and positioned herself to jump. But when she did the elevator's rope snapped and it fell from her feet, giving her no leverage. Coming up short of the platform, she grabbed for anything to keep her from falling. Finally she managed to cling to a wooden beam.

But because of the two hundred years it was untouched, it started to break. "Help!" she screamed. Then she felt someone grab onto one of her hands. When she looked up, she say Riley's worried face. Straining, he tried to pull her up.

"Mia, you have to let go of the platform!" he said.

"What?!" she yelled. "If I let go, I could fall!"

"I can't pull you up unless you let go!" he countered. "You're just gonna have to trust me!"

Mia seemed to think about this for a minute. "Okay," she said. Closing her eyes, she let go of the wooden beam. She let out a tiny shriek when she dropped a few inches only to have her other arm taken by Riley. Pulling as hard as he could, he helped her onto the platform and to safety. Both of them were breathing heavily as Mia was pulled onto the wood. Suddenly something else above them broke and started falling.

Acting on reflexes, Riley grabbed Mia, pushed her up against the wall, and covered her head as another beam smashed the front of the one they were standing on. After the dust cleared, Mia turned around and faced the man who saved her life again. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I think so," she replied, still breathless. "Thank you. You probably saved me."

"Probably?" he asked. "I totally just saved your ass," he joked and she chuckled. "Come on. Let's go find Ben." As they walked they heard Ben talking.

"I'm sorry I dropped you!" he said to Abigail. She was rubbing her arm as if she'd landed on it.

"It's fine. I would have done the same to you," she replied.

"Really?" he asked.

"I would have dropped you both!" Riley said. "Freaks."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't drop me," Mia whispered so only Riley could hear her.

"I would've never dropped you," he whispered back.

"Good to know." The elevator with Ian, Shippen, and Patrick slowly rode down to where Ben, Mia, Riley, and Abigail stood.

"Get on," Ian ordered.

"Ian," Ben said. "It's not worth it." He didn't want an body else getting hurt. The treasure wasn't worth dying over.

"Do you imagine that any of your lives was more important to me than Shaw's?" he asked. "We go on."

"Status quo," Patrick reminded his son. "Keep the status quo. Ben reluctantly told the other three to get onto the rickety elevator. Mia looked unusually pale in the dim light and was leaning on Riley for support. The other man didn't seem to mind, but looked rather pale as well. Abigail looked better than the other two. All were covered in dirt and dust from the struggle before.

The elevator slowly slid down into the dark abyss below them, no one knowing what they might find.

--

The tunnel, if that's what you want to call it, was...scary as hell. I was so terrified that someone I cared about was gonna fall down where Shaw fell and I'd never see them again. And to tell you the truth, I wasn't trying to be heroic. Mia was in trouble and I wanted to help her, so that's what I did.

We were safe for the time being. Little did I know, that was all about to change.

--

They finally slid down far enough to see a small platform that led into an opening. Ben and Riley tossed a rope over to a pole to pull the elevator closer to the platform. Everyone hopped off and into the tiny room. Mia lingered behind to speak privately to Ben. "So you have any bright ideas?" she whispered, making certain Ian couldn't hear her.

"I'm working on it. I'm thinking we give him a 'clue' if you know what I mean," he whispered back.

"What 'clue'?" she asked.

"Working on it," he replied.

"I'll work on it too then," Mia said. They all then moved into the room with the others. Ben lit the other lanterns in the room and it was...empty. The only thing in the room was a single lantern. "What is this?" Riley asked quietly. Mia silently shook her head, as if trying to figure out why they came all the way down here, while a convoluted plan formed in her head.

"So where's the treasure?" Shippen asked.

"Well?" Ian said expectantly.

"This is it?" Riley asked the two siblings. "We came all this way for a dead end?"

"Yes," Ben replied hoarsely.

"There has to be something more," he said trying to convince them.

"Riley, there's nothing more," Ben said.

"Another clue-"

"No there are no more clues!" Mia yelled.

"That's it!" Ben yelled as well. "It's over. End of the road. The treasure's gone. Moved. Taken somewhere else." Mia slid slowly down a wall nearest to her.

"You're not playing games with me, are you Ben?" Ian asked. "You know where it is."

"No," Ben said. Ian looked as if he was trying to figure out whether or not Ben was telling the truth.

"Okay, go," he whispered to Shippenand the other man ran back to the elevator. Ian followed quickly after and took the rope from around the pole, hit the leaver and it started to rise. Evidently, he thought Ben was lying. Mia began to see Ben's plan. This wasn't it and he was going to give Ian a fake clue... Ingenious really.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ben said chasing after them.

"Whoa!" Mia said following her brother.

"You can't just leave us here!" Abigail said.

"Yes I can," Ian said. "Unless Ben tells me the next clue."

"There isn't another clue!" Ben explained again.

"Hasn't he told you that already?" Mia said.

"Look Ian, if you just come down here, we can talk this through together-"

But when Ian held up the gun and said, "Don't speak again," Riley shut his mouth. "The clue? Where's the treasure? Ben?"

Ian cocked the gun and Ben said, "Wait, let's talk about this!" Suddenly a gunshot went off, Ben stumbled and Riley fell to the ground. The younger man had shoved Ben out of the way of a speeding bullet. Riley was shot because he saved his best friend's life.

"Riley!" Mia shouted running to and kneeling down next to the unconscious man. Leaning over him, she checked to see if he was still breathing. A cold fear crept up into Ben's gut as he watched the scene develop before him. "Come, on Riley! Breathe!" he heard her yell. Suddenly Ben realized what was happening, before Mia even said it and it nearly made his heart stop. "Riley, no!" she shouted. Her hands trembled as they tried to find a pulse in his arm. "There's nothing!" she said. "I can't find a pulse. Oh, God," she whispered standing up. "He's dead!" she whimpered.

A/N: Oooh, cliffhanger. And it's not like one in the movie. Don't I feel smart. You want to know what's gonna happened? You're gonna have to keep reading. Review if you want to.