A/n-Well, I knew this would happen. I would get so many angry reviews saying I was evil for the stuff I did to poor Riley that I would have to IMMEDIATELY post the next chapter to dispel these rumors. Not like you guys are complaining, I note :-) This is a very short chapter, I'm terribly sorry. The next one will be much longer, I PROMISE! It's just that school starts very soon (the sixteenth) for me and I have some stuff I have to do before I go back.

Disclaimer-Blah blah blah don't own National Treasure blah blah blah…

"Riley!" Abigail cried, horror lacing her voice. Ben's heart leapt into his throat. Instantly his head was filled with visions of his young friend bruised and bloody, lying in the trunk dead. Snapping out of the horrible thought, he dashed to the trunk where Abigail was standing, obviously in shock. Ben cast a worried eye on her before turning to the trunk.

He could barely keep a gasp of horror out of his voice. Riley was curled up in the trunk, bound, gagged, and unconscious. His hair was matted with dried blood, and his right eye was sporting a rather impressive shiner. However, the young man was breathing, albeit harshly, and Ben and Abigail subconsciously relaxed.

"He's alive," Ben said, relief evident in his voice. He bent over the unconscious man and worked the gag off, and Abigail worked on the ropes around his wrists. Then Ben carefully picked him up and laid him down on the sidewalk.

"C'mon, Riley, wake up," Ben said gently, shaking Riley's shoulders. Riley moaned and his eyelids fluttered.

"Ben?" Riley asked, his voice raspy.

"Yeah, it's me," Ben said, relieved that Riley appeared all right. He gently pulled the younger man into a sitting position. Riley, noting the unspoken question in Ben and Abigail's eyes, sighed.

"Ian found me at the Franklin Institute. Somehow he guessed about the Silence Dogood letters. I didn't tell him the next clue," Riley said softly. He looked at Ben and Abigail, "Did you find it?"

"The next clue?" Abigail asked, grinning slightly, "Thanks to you,"

"It was at Independence Hall. The House of Pass and Stow. It was a…ocular device. It showed the encryption on the back of the Declaration of Independence," Ben said. He pulled the glasses out of his pocket and showed them to Riley.

"And the treasure?" Riley asked, expectation shining in his eyes.

"No, but we have another clue. Speaking of which," he looked at the car, "Thanks to Ian, we have a car that the FBI isn't looking for. We need to get to Trinity Church," Ben and Abigail together helped Riley up and into the back seat of the car, where he immediately adopted a comfortable position not unlike that in Patrick's stolen car.

"And I thought your dad's car smelt funny," Riley said, grinning lightly. Ben couldn't help but smile to himself as he started the ignition and pulled onto the street. It was nice to have Riley back.

Ian was furious. Using the Declaration, he had found the Ottendorf Cipher and completed it with the Silence Dogood letters, and he now knew why Ben and Dr. Chase were at Independence Hall. Shaw was driving him to Independence Hall, and two of the other men were in a following car.

"I'm surprised that Ben handed over the Declaration for Riley. I thought the only use the kid had was tracking the Charlotte," Shaw was saying, musing more to himself than to Ian. He knew that Ian was quite unhappy, and Shaw could understand why. It was almost certain that whatever could be found at Independence Hall had already been found, and they could only guess at where the next clue could be.

"Wait. What if Ben still needs the Declaration? What if whatever he found wasn't enough? He wouldn't admit it to us if I called him, but…" Ian thought hard. He had gotten the Declaration through Riley, but how could he get any closer to the treasure without the clue from Independence Hall? There was no way he could get at Riley again, or Dr. Chase for that matter. He didn't even know where they were. Sure, he could call Ben again, but he had to have something to use…the idea hit him like a train. Shaw could almost see the lightbulb appear over Ian's head.

"Shaw, go towards Washington D.C., and step on it!" Ian said. The men in the car behind him were probably puzzled by the maneuver, but they followed regardless. Ian was very proud of himself for thinking of his new plan, the plan that would definitely secure for him the treasure.

See how unimaginably short that is? I got to a good stopping point, and that's all I have to say. As you can guess, the next chapter's going to be quite long, involving stuff much closer to the movie plot line. Mostly. Kind of. And for the sake of Riley-angst…oh, never mind. I'll let you get there in the next chapter!

Review, peeps, and the longer chapter will come! A point for whomever guesses Ian's grandiose plan!