Wow! I haven't written in ages! Sorry this took so long. I got this massive Geography project, two unit tests, a few lines to memorize for this show, and geez…I'll stop babbling and give you patient readers the final chapter of "She's a Rebel and a Historian."
"Those stairs don't look very stable," Patrick Gates said slowly, "I doubt they'll support our weight."
"Well, who's the smallest?" Abigail asked, "One of us could go up and get help."
Everyone looked at Ivy. She sighed and headed towards the stairs.
"Have I gotta do everything around here?" Ivy muttered.
Meanwhile, one of the custodians in the church had found poor Parkington Lane as he lay there on the floor, a pile of dust. The man was holding a flashlight over the bones when suddenly, he heard a noise. Something was banging on the stone wall. Startled, the custodian bravely but shakily held his flashlight near the place where the noise was coming from, and then the wall broke.
Out tumbled Ivy, who clumsily landed on her arm.
"Phhhtt!" Ivy spat, dust going everywhere, "Why the fxxx do they make those things anyway?"
She glanced over at the frightened custodian.
"Oh, yeah," Ivy stood up, "Do you have a cell phone I could use?"
Benjamin Gates waited patiently inside the church, right at the alter. Abigail, Riley and Ivy sat down in one of the pews, guarded by FBI agents. They waited in silence as Agent Peter Sadusky approached them.
Ben stood up and handed him the Declaration of Independence.
"You do know that you've just handed me your biggest bargaining chip?" Agent Sadusky said, his eyebrow slightly arched.
"The Declaration of Independence is not a bargaining chip," Ben stated simply, "Not to me."
"I see," Agent Sadusky nodded as they both sat down, "So what's your offer?"
"I don't know…" Ben replied, "Say about…ten billion dollars?"
"Holy sxxx!" Ivy said under her breath.
Sadusky asked, "I take it you found the treasure?"
"It's about five stories beneath us." Ben nodded.
Sadusky smiled, "You know, the Templers and the Free Masons felt that the treasure was too great for any one man to have, not even a king. That's why they went to such lengths to keep it hidden."
Ben saw that the agent was wearing a ring, with the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye engraved into it. He understood.
"That's right," Ben replied, "The Founding Fathers felt the same way about government. I figure their solution will work for the treasure too."
"Give it to the people." Sadusky said.
"Divide it amongst the Smithsonian, the Louvre, the Cairo museum…I mean, there's thousands of years of world history down there, and it belongs to the world." Ben said.
"You really don't understand the concept of a bargaining chip." Sadusky said, laughing, and Ben did the same. Then he grew serious.
"Ok, here's what I want," Ben said sincerely, "Dr. Chase gets off completely clean. Not even a little Post-it on her service record."
Abigail smiled. She was safe.
"I want the credit for the find," Ben continued, "To go to the entire Gates family…with the assistance of Mr. Riley Poole."
Riley smiled and nodded. His best friend was letting him off, too.
"As for Miss Ivy Fairview," Ben said, "I want her to get off clean as well. And please, make sure she still gets to keep her job working the gift shop at the National Archives."
Ivy even broke into a smile. Not only was she free, but also she still had her job.
"What about you?" Sadusky asked.
"I would really love not to go to prison." Ben said desperately.
"Somebody's gotta go to prison, Ben." Sadusky told him.
"Well, if you've got a helicopter," Ben said slowly, "I think I can help with that."
In Boston, Ian Howe and his group were outside the Old North Church, getting ready to break into the church and find the treasure. Or so they thought.
Within seconds, the police arrived and arrested them all. Ian was pushed up against the police vehicle as they put him in handcuffs, and he saw the figures of Ben Gates and Ivy looking back at him. Ben nodded in approval, and Ivy just gave him a dark, cold stare. They stood there and watched the car drive away with Ian Howe in custody, and for the first time, Ivy felt that the weight she had always carried had been lifted...slightly.
"Yeah, you got it chief, okay, bye," Riley Poole closed his cell phone, "They want us in Cairo next week for the opening of the exhibit. They're sending a private jet."
"That's fun." Abigail said with a smile.
"Yeah, big whoop," Riley said flatly, "We could've had a whole fleet of private jets. Ten percent, Ben. They offered ya ten percent and you turned it down."
"Riley, we've been over this," Ben argued, "It was too much. I couldn't accept it."
"I still have this, splinter that's been festering for three months…" Riley said, trying to annoy his friend even more. Ben just laughed.
"Ok, I'll tell you what," Ben told him, "The next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind, you make the call on the finder's fee."
"That's not as funny," Riley said, pausing, "What do you care? You got the girl."
"It's true." Abigail said, and she and Ben leaned in for a kiss.
"Yeah, rub it in," Riley said, "While I settle for stinkin' one percent."
Riley climbed into his new, red shiny sports car. He loved it.
"Sorry for your suffering, Riley." Ben said sarcastically.
"Yeah, for the record, Ben," Riley added, "Gotta love the house."
They took the time to glance at the beautiful, classic brick mansion. Ivy beamed at it. The place was old, but it was like a comfortable, country home.
"Now that you mention it," Ben said, going into historian mode, "I actually chose this house because in 1812, Charles Carroll met-"
"Yeah someone who did something in history and had fun," Riley said, not really caring, "You could've had a bigger house."
"That reminds me," Abigail said, "Ivy's got her show on today. You know, that contest?"
Silence.
"About winning the record deal?" Abby said, trying to get them to clue in.
"Oh, yes, right," Ben said, "Make sure to be there at about…1:00."
"What?" Riley objected, "Oh come on…do we have to go listen to her screaming guitar?"
"It's the least we could do." Abby said politely.
"Plus we've gotta pick up our new furniture," Ben said, "And those books for the library."
"Alright, fine," Riley said, "I'll go. But don't go thinking anything, ok?"
Ivy readied her guitar as the announcer said her name over the microphone, "And now, Ivy Fairview, singing her song, entitled "Story of My life."
Taking a deep breath, Ivy began to play her guitar and she stepped up to the microphone. The people in the audience seemed interested. Apparently she was the only solo girl performer.
"Seems just like yesterday
I had a family
Now it's all down the drain
It's ancient history
Don't try to help me out
I'll bring myself to life
You can stand there watching me
But just wait and see…
Here I am, once again
I'm by myself and sinking to ground
Screaming loud
Never wanted this
But I won't cry, cause deep inside
I've got a heart of stone
Now you know
The story of my life
I tried to free myself
From all these heavy chains
But all's left in the end
Is all this pain
You watch me falling down
Down to the underworld
But something's happening
You're falling down with me…
Here I am, once again
I'm by myself and sinking to the ground
Screaming loud
Never wanted this
But I won't cry, cause deep inside
I've got a heart of stone
Now you know
The story of my life
What's happening?
I just can't scream
You've got my heart and song
Please tell me
Why I can see
No more walking in the dark…
I'M ALIVE……you brought me to life
Here I am, once again
I'm here with you and living in this place
I see your face
You make me want to live
Still won't cry, cause deep inside
I'm no longer alone
Now you know
The story of our lives
The story of our lives…"
The crowd cheered. They loved it. Ivy felt relieved and excited at the same time. Then, just as she was about to step off, she saw three familiar faces. It was Ben, Abigail and Riley.
"You came!" Ivy exclaimed when she got to them.
"It turns out the exhibit was held up until tomorrow," Ben said, "And was that really you? Did you write that song?"
Ivy nodded, "Yeah, I wrote it a few days ago…"
Abigail and Ben were smiling. Riley was nervously grinning and he kept looking at the floor.
"Well I thought it was fantastic," Abby said, "Come on, let's go out and celebrate."
"They've got to announce the winners first," Ivy said, "Then we'll go. Whether I win or not, I'm still so psyched I got to do it up there!"
Riley muttered something along the lines of, "Good song."
Within a few minutes, the winners were announced. Ivy unfortunately wasn't one of them.
"The rest of the bands were crap anyway," Riley said as they left, "I heard a few of them when we came in. They sucked."
"Riley, how would you know? You don't even like this kind of music." Abby said, laughing.
"Well I did like Ivy's song." Riley admitted, his cheeks flushing pink.
Ivy was about to respond when she heard someone calling her name. She turned around and couldn't believe what she saw. She quickly told the other she would catch up.
Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of Green Day and her crush for as long as she could remember, was walking up to her. And saying her name. This must be a dream.
"Hey, are you that girl that just performed?" He asked, reaching her.
"Yeah, that was me." Ivy replied, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.
"I'm Billie Joe. I'm in Green Day, if you've heard of us. By the way, your song was fxxxing awesome. I was wondering if you'd want to record a song together…sometime."
Ivy's face lit up. This was too good to be true. But then something happened she never imagined. She saw Riley by the door, looking extremely hurt. He turned and went outside with Ben and Abigail.
"So you want to?" Billie Joe was still asking.
Ivy looked back at him. Never did she think this would happen. In her dreams she was supposed to say yes and then they'd spend the rest of their lives together. But this time, when it was really happening, she wanted something else.
"Recording a song sounds cool," Ivy agreed, "But I gotta go, I'll talk to you later."
"I'll need your phone number." Billie Joe said.
"Yeah, yeah, ok." Ivy hastily scribbled her number on his hand with the pen she had in her pocket.
Billie Joe was left with a surprised look on his face as he watched Ivy run out the door.
"Sorry I was late!" Ivy said, panting as she reached them. Riley looked back once, but then went to staring at the ground as they kept walking.
"So what do you think of all the publicity on the treasure?" Ivy asked Riley.
"I don't really care about that," Riley replied as they walked down the sidewalk, "I'm just glad I got the sports car I've always wanted."
Ivy smiled and shook her head, "Typical Riley."
He cocked his head, "Hey, you said it was cool."
"The restaurant's right here." Ben said as they reached a small building on the left.
"We'll meet you inside in a sec." Ivy said. Riley looked confused.
Abby cast Ivy a smile, "All right."
Ben opened the door for Abby and they went inside.
Riley was looking a cross between confused and nervous.
"Did you really like my song?" Ivy asked.
He shrugged, "Yeah."
"Well I wrote it about you." Ivy blurted out.
Riley's eyes grew wide, "Y-you did?"
Ivy nodded, "Yep. A few minutes ago the lead singer of Green Day-"
"I know, asked you out. You guys will have a great time. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm hungry."
Riley went to open the door, but Ivy stepped in front of him.
"Even if he did I would've said no." Ivy said, smiling a bit.
"Yeah, whatever." Riley said, trying to get to the door. Ivy kept moving so that she was in his way, "Will you please get out of my-"
Ivy leaned forward fast, took his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his. Riley took this as a surprise and pulled away, but then when Ivy worked her tongue into his mouth, he came to enjoy it. They stood there for a few minutes kissing. When they broke away, Riley looked at her with the widest eyes she'd ever seen.
"Wow…" Riley said slowly.
Ivy smiled, "You wanna go get some food now?"
Riley nodded, clearing his throat nervously, "Sure…I thought you didn't like geeks."
Ivy glanced back at him, cocking her eyebrow at him, "For you I make an exception."
Riley smiled.
"Just…if you tell anyone, I'll kick your ass." Ivy said, becoming her old self again.
"Yeah, I kinda figured that." Riley said, and they both entered the restaurant.
TO BE CONTINUED…So…what did you guys think? You like? Kinda funny how Ivy met Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong (eat your heart out, girls), hehe, just a little cameo for him there.
And yeah, the kiss finally happened. But does that mean they're gonna hook up? I won't tell, you'll just have to wait for the next installment.