AN: So, another chapter is up yippee! My beta-reader is on a roll! Anyways, many thanks again to the insanely awesome Blackfluffycloud! Who is doing a divine job.

Just to let you know on the 20th of this month till the 30th I am going on a trip to Park City, Utah to a little event known as the Sundance Film Festival for a class. So, I might not be updating for a bit, or writing stories, or getting back on reviews since I am required to see at least 15 movies for my class, I have 10 tickets, and 5 I will have to wait in the long two hour wait-list lines. But, I just found out there is a possibility that my favorite actor in the whole entire world, Ewan McGregor is going to be there because he stars in a little movie called, "Perfect Sense," which I am hoping to see and maybe, just maybe squeeze 5 minutes to ask him some questions about the movie and other things.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please, please do not forget to review!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Sorcerer's Apprentice or National Treasure Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer do!

Chapter 13: Ian Knows

Ian Howe's POV

He heard footsteps and muted whispers coming from above him. His hands were still tied together and he lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. He was thinking about what was going to happen to him when he heard a click. He looked over to where the door was and there he saw the face of his old friend, Benjamin Gates. He scowled. Ben, however, looked peeved but walked into the closet.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Ian," Ben said as he grabbed him by the shoulders and brought him out into the basement.

He saw that Abigail Gates and Riley were with him, as well as some new faces. There was a young man with black hair who was wearing black leather shoes, a geeky t-shirt of some kind, a flannel shirt, and some sort of red jacket. There was a younger woman with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing some cute, younger hipster clothing.

Those two were not who he stared at; it was the other two occupants in the room. There was another man around the age of, or a bit older, than Benjamin. He had dirty blonde curly hair and a face that didn't betray anything. He dressed rather unimpressively but when he looked between Ben and this other man he swore that they looked a lot alike. Eerily similar even.

His mind was playing tricks on him.

There was another woman and she had darker hair and ivory skin. She was quite beautiful. He, however, was pushed into a chair. Abigail and Ben were looking intently at him. Riley, who normally would spout some sarcastic remark about the situation he is in, was a little withdrawn. He frowned. He knew Riley well enough that he would laugh in his face but he was very quiet. Ben, however, was not.

"Okay, Ian, who were you working with last night?" Ben asked. He didn't look like he wanted to take any crap from him, not that he really cared.

"Why does it concern you, Ben. You got me with some…help, why don't you call the FBI and then I will be out of your hair. That's what you want, right?" Ian said. He had a slight smirk on his face and saw the other older man in the room step into his line of vision.

"It would be wise if you answered Mr. Gates questions, Mr. Howe, otherwise…things could get a bit complicated," the other man said. Ian could see into his eyes and for some reason it scared him seeing into those blue depths. There was something unseen there. Ian knew this man in front of him was capable of something and he didn't want to know what. To be honest, his features seemed slightly familiar as the events of the night resurfaced. He saw Ben stepping closer to him.

"Look, I don't want any crap from you right now Ian. I want to know the two people you were with and why they took a black book that was mine," Benjamin said. Ian knew exactly who he was with the night before but he wasn't going to tell them that easily.

"What do you mean Ben? I had no idea about a black book and those two people, I wasn't associated with them. They just happened…" Ian suddenly realized that the chair he was in slammed up against the brick wall. It hurt and he saw the older man with his hand outstretched. Things were getting weird. Did that guy just pull a Jedi move on him? It even seemed Abigail and Riley were a little surprised. Ben hid his shock well and just came closer, taking a quick glance at the older man who nodded to him. Ben walked up to him.

"Ian, it would probably be in your best interest to give us the truth. This is bigger than you can imagine. So, for both our sakes, just tell us what you know." Ben said with a hint of steel in his voice. Ian looked over his former friend with disdain.

"Why do you think I should tell you, Ben, when I don't even get any explanations as to whose company you are in? Yes, I wanted my revenge on you Ben. Even you could see that coming. I teamed up with an old friend from my younger days who owed me but he told me he had another friend who he needed help too. I was going to kill you but it seemed my friend double crossed me and fled the scene somehow. They just disappeared into thin air Ben. I must have been hallucinating. It was like…" Ian was going to say another word when Ben said it first.

"Magic," Ben supplied and had a strange look in his eye. Ian glowered.

"Yes, but we all know that does not exist," Ian declared. It seemed the company he was in had a different take on what he had just said. He was pretty sure his enemy would stand by him on that fact. But when Ian thought back to what happened a few minutes ago and the events of last night and the reaction from them all. He stared back at Ben.

"Benjamin Gates, what the heck is going on?" He yelled and asked at the same time. He was starting to panic. He had gotten in way over his head with his friend and the question was how?

Ben looked over his shoulder and saw that the other older man, who looked a lot like Benjamin Gates, come near him. He had a steel look in his eyes and he didn't look very forgiving. All the while Abigail and Riley seemed to get closer to Ben. The other three came as well.

"Let's put it this way, Ian, you're cooperation would be greatly appreciated considering I just want the names and what they are planning," Benjamin said to him. He saw that the other older man looked at him and eyed him carefully.

"To add to Mr. Gates sentiment, Mr. Howe, the situation you are in is quite complicated. Even though a criminal like you should be locked up your help is needed, considering we need to know who you were with and why they needed the black book they took from Mr. Gates." The older man said. Ian saw that he took a glance in his direction and had an amused smile adorn his face.

"Mr. Howe, there are some things in this world that would be letter left unsaid, and this is one of those times," Balthazar said.

Ian wasn't sure what to make of that ominous saying but as he realized this his chair slid forward on its own accord. All the while the older man faintly moved his hand and Ian saw a soft green glow from one of the rings the man was wearing. His mind was trying to add up the situation and was trying to tell him this did not compute but his mind came to its own conclusion. Magic was real and he was in a very dangerous situation. He would regret saying this right now but was a tad bit grateful for at least one familiar face. He looked at the group and scowled.

"I don't know what the hell you got into Benjamin Gates but the names of the two people were my friend Harvey Whitefield and a man who went by Maxim Horvath," Ian said. He believed they were going to stop asking him questions. How wrong he was.

They asked him how he had met them, or his friend Harvey anyway. Especially the older one, he soon learned his name was Balthazar. Ian started telling them his friend had a streak of being sadistic and evil and told him about the murder of this one family, the Opoel's. Ian saw something he never thought he would see. Abigail gasped and then he saw Riley. Riley's face went white. The older man looked at him and Ben looked at him. He wanted answers.

"Ben, what the hell?" He said because he saw the expressions he was getting and he saw Riley take some steps toward him. He saw a look on his face which he never though Riley could even carry. It was a glassy eyed look and the kind of look that could scare anyone and slowly Ian could see a cold hate fill those eyes. It deeply disturbed him. He never thought Riley capable of feeling like that. Okay, he tried to kill Ben, but he never saw such a look from the usually sarcastic sidekick. The words that came out of his mouth though shocked him to his core.

"Your friend Harvey killed my parents," he said with venom in his voice. The rest of the group turned to the young computer hacker. He was shocked, Riley Poole wasn't an Opoel, but then he rearranged the letters in his head. Questions ran through his head as to what was going on around him.

This is great. Now he had a murderous, sarcastic, and geeky man who wants his revenge. Ian's attention however was brought back to Ben, where he seemed to get Riley calmed down and Abigail was there as well. It seemed even the other younger members with dark hair and the one with blonde hair and blue eyes came forward to give Riley a hug. However, Balthazar looked at him intently.

"Alright, we have that information, do you know where they are?" Balthazar said to him. Ian realized that he had this look on his face that said to him 'don't-lie-to-me-or-you-might-just-regret-it'. Ian swallowed the lump and told him truthfully that he didn't know but that his friend did mention a little out of the way studio somewhere in the desolated apartments a few blocks away from Greenwich Village. It seemed that was a good enough answer, considering Balthazar left him alone. The woman with dark hair brought him some water and bread. Well, at least they were decent with their prisoners. Ben looked at him akin to pity.

"Ian, I know we aren't on best terms but in that black book is not just any treasure. It's the map to the Excalibur sword," Benjamin said to him.

Now he had heard everything. Ben took him up but left his hands tied. He wasn't sure what his next move was going to be.

He was brought upstairs and was told to sit in a chair and he couldn't move once he sat in it. He thought it might be glue but he saw the older man had a mug of coffee in his hands and his ring was glowing lightly. He had to hold back a shudder. Riley, it seemed, was giving him a hard, cold, and unforgiving stare and was very rigid. He had to give it to himself; he did feel a bit of remorse for Riley. He didn't tell many people this but his father was murdered as well when he was six years old in a hostage situation in a supermarket.

Not a lot was explained to him, except when Ben told him he called agent Sadusky to tell him that he captured him. He was useless to him now. He was thinking of what was going to happen to him next when the older man looked out the door and ran. There was a loud crash and a flash of light and a large amount of movement. His hold was let go and he was going to see what happened when he saw the man with the black bowler hat, Maxim, drag Riley, who was close to the door, and Ian could not believe what the hell he was doing but went to grab Riley's wrist to get him to safety when he was kicked in the stomach and failed. Riley was taken. The other occupants in the room where outside where he saw things he could only believe happened in fantasy novels.

But what happened next he wasn't sure, but he saw Maxim grab Riley and Harvey and drag them into a getaway car that changed into an ultra sleek Ferrari. Nobody could believe what happened. Ben was in shock and so was Abigail. Ian wasn't sure how they had escaped but he saw that Balthazar, the other woman he knew now was named Veronica, the younger couple, Dave and Becky, look were the car went. He saw there was a piece of parchment knifed into the door. It read:

To Balthazar and friends

You will get Mr. Opoel back if you retrieve my jewel and cane. Only then will Mr. Opoel live

M.H and H.W

P.S Oh Balthazar, just to let you know we know will know the secret location of Excalibur when Mr. Opoel's blood is spilled. Such a pity.

He saw that the party ran up to where he was and didn't look at him but the note. Balthazar's face paled and Ben looked extremely angry and the younger ones were worried as well. Balthazar turned to him and asked if he had anything on his person and he said not that he was aware of. He soon found himself against the wall and watched as Balthazar ripped the gift Harvey gave him when he joined him on his quest to kill Benjamin Gates from around his neck. Balthazar looked at him and the necklace. He looked over at the younger man.

He showed the necklace to the younger man known as Dave.

"Dave, you know what this is?" Balthazar said to Dave with a slight edge in his voice but was trying to soften it, knowing that his anger wasn't directed at the younger man.

Dave looked at the necklace and his eyebrows rose.

"That's a wards deformer and tracker, no wonder they were able to get through your wards and track him here so easily," the younger man said. Ian soon found himself grabbed and was rushed to what was a black Rolls Royce that changed, much to his amazement, into a Porsche SUV and was thrown in.

Balthazar looked at him.

"Well it seems you know how to keep your company, Mr. Howe, seeing as you now know magic exists and now you are going to get a young man killed for nothing." The man stared brutally at him. He wasn't really sure what to say when the rest of the party jumped into the car as well.

All he knew was that Ben called to tell Agent Sadusky that they would need to pick him up later. That should have been a good thing. He wasn't so sure anymore what was good or bad, considering that at this moment killing Ben was not at the top of his list.