Heeeeeere's #8! Sorry for the wait, I just started high school. It's pretty good, but I keep getting lost. But hey, that's just me! Anywho, glad to know you guys are liking the Ivy/Riley chemistry, though it's slowly coming. I think Ivy is having feelings toward him, she just doesn't know it yet. And it's not like she'd admit it anyway! Thanks again for the amazing reviews, they make me want to write you guys some more!
Just a quick note: I almost always skip Ben's parts and just show it from Abby, Ivy and Riley's point of view, so I'll divide it between Ben's POV and their POV.
From Abigail, Ivy and Riley's POV:
"Ivy…Ivy, wake up…"
Ivy groaned. Someone was gently shaking her awake. Not now. Not when she was so comfortable. If this was that annoying roommate of hers, she was definitely moving out…
"IVY! GET OFF ME!"
This time she reacted right away. It was Riley's angry voice.
Ivy's eyes flew open and she saw that she was lying on Riley.
"Ewwww! Oh my god, I'm scarred for life! I'm going to get a nerd disease! AAGGHH!"
Riley scoffed, "Speak for yourself! You were on me!"
Abigail interrupted them, "Listen, you two. We've got to get a hold of Ben."
"Why? Where are we?" Ivy asked.
The car had come to a stop. It was parked outside a pawn shop in New York City. Ivy recognized it. This was the city that she and her family visited every summer. The same city that she had snuck away to see Green Day in concert.
"We're in New York," Shaw said, getting out of the car, "Now if you two in the back would stop flirting, we could get this show on the road."
"Flirting!" Ivy said, her expression becoming disgusted, "Listen, baldie, we're not flirting. For the record, I don't flirt with nerds."
"You flirt with other punks, right?" Riley said sarcastically.
Ivy shot Riley a glare, "What would you know? You don't know anything about me! Nobody does! And you know why? Because nobody cares! I'm just me, the annoying, sarcastic lonely girl."
Riley's blue eyes surveyed her, "Ivy...I heard about your dad."
Ivy's glare faded away and she refused to look at him. So he hadn't been completely asleep.
Riley sighed, "Listen, I'm sorry, alright? Everyone deals with stuff like that. Maybe we could somehow get you back home to your family…"
"No, no," Ivy said, shaking her head, "I'm not going back there. They hate me. They're not my family anymore."
Riley was silent for a moment. Did Ivy really think that the people she had grown up with hated her? Maybe so, but why was she so sure of it?
"Ivy, how do you know?"
"What?"
"How do you know they hate you?"
Ivy turned back to him, "I…I just…"
"What if they miss you? I'd miss you if you were my sister."
Ivy's mouth dropped open. Riley bit his lip, thinking "What did I say that for!"
"Riley…" Ivy said, staring at him, "No one's ever said something like that to me before."
Riley was about to respond when Abigail, who had been talking with Shaw the whole time, looked back and spoke to them.
"Come on," She said, "We need your help."
It wasn't long before they were at Wall Street and Broadway. Shaw dropped them off, and then drove off to meet Ben.
Ben's POV:
Ben angrily questioned Shaw, "What did you do with Abigail, Riley and Ivy?"
Shaw ignored his inquiry and threw a bundle of dry clothes at Ben, "Hope these fit."
Ben glared at the man, "I said what did you do with them? Riley's the only one who could have told you guys that line about Edison."
Shaw still didn't answer, "Did you bring the glasses?"
"I don't know. Tell me what's happening here." Ben demanded.
Shaw looked him directly in the eye, "Ask your girlfriend. She's the one calling all the shots now. She won't shut up."
Ben smiled. Abigail must've done something good.
He soon was changed and sat in the back of the car between Shaw and Phil, while another one of Ian's comrades drove. They weren't driving long when Shaw's cell phone rang.
"Yeah, hello?"
He handed the phone to Ben and said in disbelief, "It's for you."
Ben frowned but spoke, "Hello?"
"Hi, sweetie," Abigail said mockingly, "How's your day going?"
Ben caught on right away. She must have told them that she really was his girlfriend. That would have stopped some questioning.
"Uh, interesting, dear," Ben replied, "So, what, you're working with Ian now?"
"Turns out helping someone escape from FBI custody is a criminal act," Abigail said with a smile, "And he's the only criminal we knew. So we called him and made a deal."
"Well, you're, um," Ben lowered his voice for more privacy, "You're alright? You're safe?"
"Yeah, we all are," Abigail said, "Riley's right here doing something clever with a computer."
"Hey!" Riley said in his usual friendly way when Abigail gave him the phone, "I'm tracking you through the GPS in Shaw's phone. They take a turn anywhere we don't want, we'll know it, so don't-"
Abigail took the phone away.
"-worry." Riley finished.
Abigail continued, "If Ian tries to double-cross us, we can call the FBI and tell them right where you are. And where to find Ian."
"And where is that?" Ben asked.
"Right across the street from where we're hiding," Abigail said, "At the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway."
"Well, you figured out the clue." Ben said proudly.
"Actually, Ivy figured it out," Abigail said, "Just goes to show you can't underestimate people."
Ivy, who had been watching the screen on Riley's laptop, grabbed the phone.
"Simple: Heere at the Wall, Wall Street and Broadway. You're not the only one who fills their head with History facts." Ivy said, smiling.
"I guess it was a good idea to let you come along." Ben said with a laugh.
Ivy's smile faded when she caught Abigail's gaze. She was supposed to tell him something else.
"Ben, there is a catch," Ivy said suddenly, her tone becoming serious, "Ian thinks he can have the treasure. We had to tell him that. It was the only way we could go through with the plan."
Riley was watching the computer screen carefully. The tiny red dot that marked the car Ben was traveling in had arrived at their location.
"He's here." Riley announced to them.
Ivy quickly said good-bye and then hung up the phone. She went to stand beside Abigail by Riley's computer.
Ben's POV:
"Ben!" Ian said when he met him, "You alright? Now broken bones? A jump like that could kill a man."
"Nah, it was cool," Ben said casually, "You should try it sometime."
Ian laughed. He then placed two objects on the hood of the car, "The Declaration of Independence, and the meerschaum pipe. All yours."
Ben looked at Ian suspiciously, "That's it?"
Ian nodded, looking at the objects, "That's it."
Then he looked back at Ben, more serious, "I knew you'd keep your promise. Now, where is it? Where's my treasure?"
"It's right here," Ben replied, "The map said, 'Heere at the Wall," spelled with two E's. Wall Street follows the path of an actual wall…"
Ben proceeded to explain the clue to Ian.
"So, Heere at the Wall," Ben finished, "Wall Street, Broadway."
Ian looked at him with a confused face.
Ben grabbed the Declaration and the pipe. He then turned away, speaking with a British accent, "Cheerio."
"Just a moment, Ben." Ian said, stopping him.
"Ian, if you break our deal, the FBI will only be a few minutes behind you. You might get away, you might not."
"Is that all the map said?" Ian asked.
Ben nodded, "Every word."
"Oh, Ben," Ian said, obviously not believing him, "The key to running a convincing bluff…once in a while, you've got to be holding all the cards."
Ian's eyes looked over Ben's shoulder. Ben turned around and saw that one of Ian's comrades was holding his father, Patrick Gates, in custody. The poor man's hands were duct taped, and he was in the backseat of a car.
"Dad…" Ben said slowly.
"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Ian asked, knowing that he was in charge now.
Ben gave in, "Trinity Church. We have to go inside Trinity Church."
Ian seemed pleased, "Good, excellent. Well, why don't you ask Dr. Chase, Riley and my niece to join us? I'm sure they're around here somewhere."
Ah, cliffhanger! How mean is that? Sorry, I have to go to bed. School in the morning. Yuck. I hate Mondays so much. Hope you liked that one.