Part 34

A/N: Just 'cause I haven't done one in a while: I don't own any of the National Treasure characters or anything referring to the previously made movies. I just spent the last of my monies fixing my brakes so if you sue me, the only things I have as collateral are my car and my dog - and please don't take my dog! I love him!

And thanks for the reviews - compliments and suggestions alike! And for the threats! Those are just as fun for me to read!

"Oof!" Riley huffs as Joseph drops him to the ground, pretty much just throwing him back off his shoulders.

"Sorry," Joseph grins. "You slipped."

Riley frowns, then looks up at the wall before him. "Oh, hey," he exclaims as he sees the red-tinted stone, charcoal black lines running vertically up the surface to touch the grayish white wavy lines that cross the stone above. "It really does look like fire," he grins.

"All right," Bens begins, "Cro had to have entered somewhere in this general area. I'd say…any of these four gaps in the walls," he says, pointing across at the four nearest entrances into the maze. "We should split up and check for any sign of a horseshoe down these paths."

"I'll just hang here, I think," Riley says, positioning himself so he's leaning his back up against the wall. "Just holler when you find the right way."

"Well that just isn't going to work," Elizabeth shakes her head.

"Why not?" Riley asks, confused.

"Because, Riley, there are eight of us, which means we need to split into teams of two to search each path – one of us with one of you. If you stay here, one of us has to stay here, and that leaves one path unsearched."

"Oh, yeah, 'cause I'm just gonna get up and sprint away as soon as you leave. In fact, I really only faked the knee pain because I really, you know, I just had to experience the thrill of riding piggyback on a big scary guy that could break me in half any second he wanted to."

"Which I allowed so you'd be more useful once we got here. This is not an option. Stand up."

Riley sighs and pushes himself up against the wall, keeping the weight off his leg. He crosses his arms over his chest, looking annoyed.

Satisfied, Elizabeth begins spouting out orders. "Joseph, I want you to go with Agent Miller – I don't trust her with Victor or Evan."

All three of them look away from each other sheepishly at the mention of their names.

"Victor, you go with Ben," Elizabeth continues, "Evan, don't make me regret this but I want you paired with Riley, and I'll go with Abigail." Ben and Abigail exchange a worried look, which Elizabeth catches. "Oh, don't worry. I'm choosing Abigail because she's the only one that hasn't managed to put me in a foul mood. Now let's go."

"We'll, uh, we'll take this entrance," Evan says, pointing to the one that Riley is standing closest to. He moves over beside Riley, offering him a shoulder to lean on.

"It's okay," Riley says, pushing away from the wall and slowly testing his weight on his leg. "Yeah, I can walk on this…sort of."

He limps into the gap between the walls and Evan shrugs, following him in, leaving the rest of the group to split up as they see fit. As they round a small bend in the path, Evan reaches out and touches Riley lightly on the back.

"Okay, sit down," he says. Riley looks back at him, confused. "They can't see us anymore, so sit down."

Still looking unsure, Riley complies and allows himself to get comfortable on the ground. Evan sits down in front of him and pulls the pack off his back, rummaging through it. He pulls out a first aid kit, retrieving the supplies he needs from it.

"Let me see your knee," he instructs, and Riley quickly pulls up his pant leg.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but shouldn't you be looking for that horseshoe?" Riley finally speaks as Evan begins taping up his knee.

"Shouldn't you have kept your knee wrapped to begin with?" Evan asks back.

"It was itchy," Riley shrugs and Evan grins.

"I'd scold you and say itchy is better than painful, but I broke my arm once and man, that cast made my skin itch worse than when I had chicken pox. I feel your pain, dude, but you gotta keep this taped up or you'll ruin your knee permanently."

"I know," Riley sulks.

Evan finishes the tape job and activates the cold pack, pressing it down on Riley's knee. "Hold that there," he says, then stands up. "Just sit tight – I'll look for the horseshoe." He gives Riley a little wink and turns to begin his inspection of the ground around him.

"That's not gonna work," Riley tells Evan after a few minutes of watching him circle around, staring closely at the ground which is comprised of places that are part solid rock, part sand, and part undergrowth.

"What's not?"

"You can't just look. See?" Riley reaches one hand down to the ground and sweeps it through the sand. He pushes aside a think layer of it before reaching the hard ground beneath.

"Oh man," Evan sighs, running a hand over his short hair, "It could be buried? This is gonna take forever."

"…or not," Riley says, as he looks down at the space he just cleared. He shifts himself over slightly and begins expanding the area of cleared-away sand. Sure enough, he reveals a deep, foot-wide horseshoe shape etched into the earth.

Evan laughs, "Oh, no way that just happened!"

Riley stares down at the carving, blinking in surprise. "This can't be real," he mumbles quietly. "It's gotta be a coincidence."

"There's only one way to find out," Evan smiles. "Stay here – I'm gonna run up 'til I find a fork in the path and try to see if I can find another one of those."

"Sure, yeah," Riley says absently as Evan takes off. "It's too perfect…this has to be it…but what does it mean?" He runs his fingers along the print, pondering over the question.

"Riley!" Evan shouts a while later, rushing back over to where Riley is still sitting. "I found it! It's really there! It took me forever to find it, but I did, and it's just like this one. You totally found it! We gotta get the others over here."

He pulls Riley to his feet and takes off towards the path entrance. Riley, after a second of standing there in shock, shakes it off and quickly gimps after Evan. "It's fate," he mumbles to himself. "I was meant to find this." He gets an excited look on his face and begins to shout for Ben before they even exit the maze.