A/n-Wow, 41 reviews! I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF! I must re-state myself: I honestly didn't know how many Riley fans there were out there! Thus, I must update fast or I will be hunted down (considering two of you know where I live…cough Rhia cough sierranevadas cough…) ANYWAY, everyone enjoy chapter 3!

Disclaimer-All I own is the woman in chapter 2 with the water bottle! Go me! Oh, and Riley. I've let him out of the closet, and granted him visitation rights from faithful reviewers. As long as you don't try to smuggle him out…

Riley moaned as he drifted back towards consciousness. What happened? He wondered groggily. One second he was at the Franklin Institute bribing some kid to complete the Ottendorf Cipher, the next moment he was—Riley's eyes snapped open. Ian! Ian had been at the Franklin Institute! He tried to move, but realized soon enough that he was tied to a chair.

"So you're awake," a gruff voice nearby said. Riley recognized that voice. It was another of the mutineers from the Charlotte Expedition.

"Shaw," Riley acknowledged, blinking a few times to get his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room.

"So, Riley, find out the next clue?" Shaw asked, assuming Riley's intentions at the Franklin Institute.

"Maybe," Riley said, "But I don't think kidnapping me will get me to tell it to you,"

"You're in a bit of a dangerous situation to be mouthing off, Riley," Shaw snarled, "If it wasn't for Ben, I would've shot you on the Charlotte," Riley gulped nervously. Shaw was completely devoted to Ian, and was completely fearless. It was also apparent, after the incident on the Charlotte, that Shaw was also ruthless.

"You wouldn't dare do anything to me!" Riley cried, uncertainly. He was the only one who knew the clue from the Silence Dogood letters, which was a fairly good insurance considering that only Ben and Abigail had the Ottendorf Cipher. Shaw, however, didn't buy it. He took a step towards Riley, drawing back a fist.

"Try me," he growled angrily.

"You wouldn't hit a man in glasses!" Riley squeaked, knowing that if he didn't act fast, he'd end up with a fist in his face. Shaw halted mid-punch.

"You're right," Shaw said, uncertainly, "But I can fix that," Shaw snatched the glasses of Riley's face, snapped them, and tossed them into a corner, "Now, where were we?" For once, Riley didn't have a witty comeback.

"I remember. What's the next clue, Riley?" Shaw demanded.

"There isn't one," Riley said, "You caught me before I could figure it out," That's a good bluff, Riley thought, very proud of himself.

"Then why were you ready to leave?" Shaw asked. Riley's face fell. He hadn't thought of Shaw as "the smart one", but the older man was calling all of Riley's bluffs. Ian was definitely sure that Riley had the next clue.

"Because I couldn't find it?" Riley asked, now unsure of himself. Shaw scowled darkly, and this time there was nothing Riley could do to keep Shaw from giving him a black eye. The force of the punch nearly knocked the chair over, and for the second time in the past few hours, Riley was rendered unconscious. However, it was at this moment that Ian chose to enter the room.

"Did he wake up?" Ian asked his second-hand man, who nodded, "Did you get the second clue from him?" Shaw shook his head, "No matter. We're going to Independence Hall. And he's coming with us," Shaw knew better than to question Ian's motives, but he had a good idea why they were going to Philadelphia.

Ben and Abigail looked down from the bell tower of Independence Hall, trying to figure out where the shadow of the tower would be at about 2:22.

"The shadow's along that brick wall now," Ben said, "So about an hour ago it'd be…there," he said pointing to the roof. Abigail nodded, "I'll go down and look, you go down to the Signing Room and wait for me," Abigail, however, did not agree to this.

"We're only making a rough estimate. I'm going to help you," Abigail said. Ben sighed, but consented. Her suggestion was logical, at any rate.

The two of them arrived at the roof, and immediately began scanning for any marking that would suggest something was hidden there, "How can something be hidden on the roof?" Abigail asked, "It would've been found by now, wouldn't it?" Once again, Ben had to agree.

"But if it's not here, where is it?" he asked, unintentionally thinking aloud. He looked over to the wall, "You don't think…" it was at this moment that the realization hit him. He remembered Riley saying once that daylight savings time wasn't established until World War I, "If it's 3:22 now…" Ben began, walking towards the wall. Abigail followed curiously, "Than in 1776, it would be 2:22. Abigail, it's here!" he said, pointing to where the "timely shadow" crossed in front of Independence Hall. He searched the bricks for a moment before stopping. One brick had a Templar symbol on it.

"I don't believe it," Abigail said, "Daylight Savings Time," Ben drew his pocketknife and worked around the mortar until he could draw the brick out. He looked into the hole, Abigail excitedly peering over his shoulder. There was nothing there. He sighed disappointedly.

"Ben!" Abigail cried, pointing to the brick. It was hollow, and inside the compartment was what appeared to be an odd form of glasses.

"The vision to see the treasured past?" Ben asked, smiling. He carefully put the brick back, as to not draw suspicion, and the two of them headed back towards the bell tower and the Signing Room.

Once inside the Signing Room, Ben opened the case and withdrew the Declaration of Independence. He and Abigail unrolled it and flipped it over. Before putting on the glasses, however, Ben had to pause.

"What's wrong?" Abigail asked, eager to find the next clue.

"It's just that…the last time this was here, it was being signed," he said, softly.

"Ben, Ian could be here any minute. We need the next clue," Abigail replied, also softening her voice.

"Right," Ben said, snapping back to the present. He put on the glasses and gasped. There was an entire holographic scheme of Templar symbols and four words.

"What does it say?" Abigail asked, eagerly.

"It says "Heere at the Wall", with two Es," Ben replied, handing Abigail the glasses.

"Wow," Abigail said, almost speechless. She had handled the document many times, but had never imagined that there was something this amazing on the back. Ben glanced up through the window, but was only mildly surprised to see Powell and Phil wandering around outside.

"Ian's here," Ben said, softly. The two of them carefully re-rolled the Declaration, and Ben put it back in the case, "You keep those. If Ian doesn't know that we have the next clue, than maybe we can get Riley back without giving it to him," Abigail nodded, her face expressionless. The two left the building, hoping that Ian, and Riley, would be nearby. They didn't have to wait long, for nearly instantaneously they were met by Ian Howe himself, with Shaw in tow.

"Hello, Ben," Ian said, smiling, "I see you've been working on your clues. Your social life too, I see," Ian added, glancing at Abigail, who scowled in return.

"Ian, what did you do to Riley?" Ben demanded.

"I didn't do anything," Ian said, smiling humorlessly. Ben and Abigail didn't believe him for a second.

"We know you kidnapped him," Abigail said in indignation, stepping forward, "And if you ever want to go any farther in finding the treasure, and get a lighter jail sentence, I suggest you let him go!" Her cheeks were flushed in fury, and her eyes snapped angrily.

"Dr. Chase," Ian said, turning to her, "This is America. Everything is run by capitalism. I need to make a profit, and I can't do that by simply giving you what you want. You need to run a trade. We both have rather important bargaining chips that could save our lives if the FBI catches up with us, and I'm not going to give up mine just because you say so," Abigail was speechless at the hostility of the man, but she could see that his plan was logical, if not brilliant. However, she knew that it did not bode well for Riley or the Declaration of Independence.

"A human life is not a bargaining chip!" Ben protested. Riley was one of his closest friends, and it hurt him to see Ian use the younger man as he was.

"And, I suppose, neither is the Declaration of Independence. Which is why this is the perfect trade, Ben," Ian's cajoling voice had a mocking tone to it that infuriated Ben and Abigail. However, there was nothing Ben could do. Although finding the treasure meant a lot to him, Riley's life meant more.

"Ian…" Ben began, desperately trying to find a better way out of the "trade".

"Ben, as you stall, your friend's chance of life lessens. It wasn't my idea, but there was no more room in the car. I suppose you can thank Shaw, if you see him again. Make your choice now, Ben, before it's too late," Ian said, carelessly. Ben looked at Ian in shock. He hadn't thought Ian was capable of killing. Things had taken a turn for the worst in the space of four sentences.

"What did you do?" Abigail demanded. Both men ignored her as Ben wordlessly handed Ian the case holding the Deceleration. Ian smiled as he opened the leather exterior, pulled out the plastic one, and checked for the document. He shouldered the container, and handed Ben a set of car keys.

"Good luck," he said, smiling as he turned and left.

"Wait, Ian! Where…what…" Ben began, but Ian had left with Shaw, Powell, and Phil in tow.

"We have to find the car," Abigail said, the angry flush in her cheeks having given way to the pale tone of fear.

"I have to admit, that's fairly easy," Ben said, noting that the automatic door locker had been left on the key ring. He hit the "alarm" button, and somewhere, the angry screaming of a car alarm began, "That's our car," Ben added, pointing in the general direction of the cacophony. Wasting no time, the two of them dashed down the street toward the car where their friend was being held hostage.

Luckily, it wasn't long before they reached the honking car. Ben smiled in spite of himself, deciding that Ian (or Shaw, depending on if Ian had lied earlier or not) hadn't intended for them to find the car so fast. Abigail was already peering in the windows, quickly checking if anyone was tied up on the floor or ready to open the door and point a gun at them.

"There's nobody in there," Abigail said shakily, "No Riley or anyone else,"

"Do you think Ian would put him in the front where someone might see him?" Ben asked, opening the door and groping for the handle to open the trunk, "He may not be smart enough to take of the automatic door-opener, but he's smart enough to think of that," Abigail gulped. She had heard stories of people suffocating in the trunk of a car, and what Ian had said earlier about stalling took on a new meaning.

Ben smiled in spite of himself as he found the handle, and it gave a click as he pulled it and the trunk popped open. Abigail, who was closer, rushed to the boot and hefted the lid up. She gave a startled cry upon looking in, alerting Ben.

"Riley!"

Oooh, I'm an evil git to leave it there! I LOVE THE CLIFFHANGERS! I guess I'm getting revenge on all of you evil cliffhanger writers out there…anyway, please review! Depending on how many of you review, we'll see if I actually killed our favorite comic relief (Abigail didn't seem too happy there, did she…heh heh heh…)!