Disclaimer: Trust me, if the characters were mine, I would be working on the next National Treasure movie. So, they're clearly not mine because I'm still sitting at home and not off in Hollywood.

A/N: Hey, thanks for all of your quick reviews! Because I left you all in a terrible cliffhanger, I decided to update again today so you wouldn't have to suffer too long. Thank you so much to Miss Hermione Jane Granger, Majestik Moose, daisyduke80, doodlegirll, Jedi'Pirate Jaeh, fantomfairy, unorthodox yo-yo, Masterarcher, Spellinggirl, Raina-Bess, Maira Blue, karmine, Halo, and bigmacsparkey for your wonderful reviews! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, but you may want some Kleenexes nearby…

Chapter 25

"Riley!"

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Ben watched in horror as Riley jerked after the gunshot as he heard Abigail scream loudly in terror, watched him hit the floor lifelessly. No, not Riley… Why didn't he move him out of the way like an older brother should have to protect the younger? Some brother he turned out to be…

But Ben was finally able to push thoughts of his dream aside, seeing what had truly happened. Riley had jumped after the gunshot, but only because he hadn't expected the sudden loud noise. The gun had gone off, but Riley hadn't been the one who was hit.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Time seemed to move even slower for Ian. One minute, he was facing down the barrel of Dustin's gun, and the next, he was on the wooden floor because someone had shoved him there. The English man watched in horror as Nick stepped in front of the gun just as it was fired, the bullet burying itself deep into his lower right side. The younger man then collapsed limply to the floor, his face deathly pale.

There was a shocked moment of silence, except for Nick's continuous cries of pain filling the small living room. The sound finally bringing him back to reality, Ian recovered first. He got to his feet and dropped back down beside his writhing stepbrother. "Nick!" he shouted anxiously, placing his hand on his pale cheek. "Nick!"

At the sound of his name, Nick's eyes slowly fluttered open. He opened his mouth to try to say the English man's name, but he grimaced in pain and closed his eyes tightly again, holding his agonizing side.

Filled with fear, Ian gently moved Nick's arms away before removing his light jacket, placing it firmly down on the wound. Nick cried out in pain from the pressure, but the older man didn't remove the jacket or lighten the force. He knew that the wound wouldn't kill him immediately, but it was in a place that could kill him over time if it wasn't tended to. He also knew that Nick would have a better chance of living if he could disrupt the blood flow so he wouldn't lose too much.

"Hold on, Nick," Ian whispered desperately, allowing him to grab on to his hand tightly because of the pain he was experiencing. "Stay with me, little brother."

Riley stared at the older Poole with horror after finally able to tear his eyes away from Nick. "Oh my God… Dustin, what did you do?"

"I… I didn't…" Dustin protested quietly in defense, still in shock about what had happened. "I didn't hurt him on purpose…" Then, the fact that his best friend could die finally hitting him, Dustin rushed forward to kneel down by Nick to check him over. But he was shocked when Ian pushed him away.

"No! Don't get near him!" the English man shouted frantically. "You're the reason why he's like this! You're the one who did this to him!"

Powell released a struggling Abigail, who ran over to Ben and Riley, and stood behind Ian with his gun directed at Dustin in case he decided to try to approach them again. "Thank you," Ian barely acknowledged him, his attention fully on tending to Nick.

"No… I didn't mean to!" Dustin shouted, lowering his gun to his side. "I didn't do this on purpose, Ian!"

As Ben watched the confusion, something snapped in the back of his mind. He felt terrible about what had happened to Nick, but another strong feeling replaced it when he realized that it could have easily been Riley. It could have been Riley that had gotten shot, that was lying on the floor in agonizing pain. It could have been his own little brother walking the fine line between life and death. It was too much for him to handle.

His anger finally getting the best of him, Ben released Abigail and pushed past Riley, approaching a stunned Dustin. The older Poole looked back at him, grunting in pain when the treasure hunter's fist collided with his face.

Abigail screamed and covered her mouth as Dustin fell to the ground because of the force, Riley appearing just as horrified. "Ben, what are you doing?!" he asked anxiously.

But Ben ignored them, stepping heavily on Dustin's wrist to make him release the gun. Once the weapon was out of his hand, the treasure hunter bent down and grabbed it, loading it and aiming it with shaking hands at the other man. Powell turned to aim his gun at Ben while Ian slowly pulled out his and did the same. An emotionally unstable Ben who had just lost his chapstick going through airport security holding a deadly weapon was not good, especially when he wasn't used to holding one…

"Ben!" Abigail cried as tears formed in her eyes.

Dustin only laughed when he saw how uncomfortable Ben was holding the gun. "Come now, Ben. Do you really think that you can scare me with that?" he asked.

Abigail clung tightly to Riley's arm, the tears finally escaping from her eyes. "Stop him, Riley," she pleaded in a whisper when the techie looked back at her. "Please stop him."

"You're not walking away from this, Dustin," Ben muttered fiercely, his voice laced with anger that didn't suit him. "Not after what you put your own brother through."

"Why do you even care?" Dustin said in surprise. "Riley isn't much to you. He's just your friend!"

Ben's eyes took on an even brighter flame. "Riley's my little brother too," he told him quietly. "I was the one that watched him suffer through so much pain, both physically and emotionally. And I was the one who suffered along with him, while you were the one who caused him all that pain. I am going to make sure that you pay for everything you did to him!"

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Dustin cried desperately, tears forming in his own eyes. "What have I got to lose? I killed my own father! I betrayed my own brother! I hurt my best friend! All for some treasure that we can't even find! Ben, just get it over with. Please!"

The treasure hunter was caught off guard by his pleas, but his anger soon took over his actions. He took a deep breath, his finger resting lightly on the trigger as he prepared to pull it back…

"Ben, don't."

Ben gasped quietly, the calm voice bringing him out of his anger. He slowly turned around, seeing that Riley was staring back at him, his face an emotionless mask. But he knew the younger man well enough to know that he was struggling hard to keep back his true feelings.

"Please, Ben. Don't do this," Riley repeated quietly. "He's not worth it."

"But, Riley," Ben said in disbelief. "He-!"

"I know what he did," Riley interrupted, a firm tone to his voice. "But we can let the police handle him. Okay?" A small smile appeared on his face.

Ben looked at him for a long moment, and then turned his eyes to the gun in his hands. He suddenly dropped it to the floor as though the metal had suddenly become burning hot, anxious to rid himself of it. Abigail sighed with relief, rushing forward into her husband's arms as she cried quietly into his shoulder. Ben felt tears beginning to fall from his own eyes, and he reached over with one arm to pull Riley into a group embrace. The techie felt as though he could finally breathe easily again, and the tears that he had been keeping back for much too long finally escaped.

Dustin watched them for a minute, and then rolled on to his side to reach for the gun that Ben had dropped. But before he could get a hold of it, the door of the house suddenly crashed open. Everyone except Nick quickly turned to the doors, watching as many FBI agents rushed inside, all holding guns.

"Freeze! Drop your weapons!" they all commanded.

Powell and Ian both dropped their guns immediately, and Dustin left the third one where it was on the floor. When it appeared that there wasn't any danger, another man entered the house and stopped in front of the four criminals. "Mr. Howe, you and your associates are under arrest… again… for breaking out of prison, kidnapping, murder, and breaking and entering while causing damage to a public building," Agent Peter Saudsky announced.

Ian took a deep breath, looking down at the now-still Nick in his arms. "I will go quietly if I am allowed to go with my brother," he told the agent. "Once I know that he will live, then I will go to prison. Please."

Sadusky's eyes narrowed in concern as he looked down at the pale form of Nick and the gunshot wound in his side. Then, he took out his walkie-talkie and began to anxiously speak into it, "We need an ambulance at 1318 Lafayette Street. I repeat. 1318 Lafayette Street." Once he was done giving the order, he turned his attention back to the English man. "All right, Mr. Howe. Your brother will be brought to the nearest facility. You may stay with him under heavy guard. You other two companions will stay there for now also until you all are ready for transfer to prison."

"Thank you," Ian muttered with clear relief, getting to his feet as he allowed an agent to handcuff him, giving Dustin and Powell a look to tell them to do the same. Ian didn't leave Nick's side until the rescue squad came to the house and took him out to the waiting ambulance, and even then, the English man stayed with him the entire way. Powell and Dustin, following Ian's example, allowed themselves to be arrested quietly. But as he was being led away, the older Poole met Riley's eyes, giving him a hurt yet angry look.

"This isn't over, little brother," he whispered fiercely. Then, he was gone.

"We're clear," Sadusky said into his walkie-talkie, signaling for the other agents to leave. The order was relayed, and all of his men that he had brought with him began to leave. As the last few straggled out, Sadusky turned to the remaining Ben, Abigail, and Riley with a small smile.

"Are any of you going to die or need any medical attention whatsoever?"

"No, we're fine, Agent Sadusky," Ben answered, a small smile appearing on his face in return. "But how did you know that we were here?"

Sadusky sighed deeply. "Next time, tell you're mother why you're leaving," he told him with shining eyes.

Ben laughed at the comment, knowing that his mother must have called the agent because she was worried about him since he didn't tell her why they were suddenly flying to Missouri. That definitely sounded like something his mother would do… "We'll be right out, Sadusky."

"All right," Sadusky said. "I'll be outside if you need anything… trying to keep away the press."

"Thank you," Ben nodded at him. When the agent was gone, the treasure hunter turned to his wife. "It's over," he whispered after another tear fell from her eyes, kissing her. "It's all over now…"

"No it isn't," Riley suddenly muttered. "We have to find the treasure yet."

Ben looked at him with confusion. "Riley, we don't know what your father's clue means," he told him. "How are we supposed to find it if we don't understand it?"

Riley smiled. "Ben, I know what the clue means," he replied. "Didn't you hear me when I said, 'I know the clue'?"

"Um…"

"You were probably too occupied with me jumping in front of Dustin's gun," Riley muttered off-handedly. "But I did mean it when I said I knew it."

Ben looked at him expectantly. "I would appreciate it if you told us what it meant, Riley," he said.

Riley smirked. "I don't know. This is the first time I have figured out a clue before you," he taunted. "Let me enjoy it for a minute. Then again, I could be evil and not tell you-!"

"Riley!" Abigail interrupted impatiently.

"Fine, fun-spoiler," Riley muttered. "The first part of the clue is crooked is straight, straight is crooked, you are almost at your journey's end. The word crooked is the key word." He pointed up at the picture that was hanging on the wall above them. "There. Crooked."

"How do you know that's the meaning?" Ben asked with confusion. "It could just be a random picture that Jesse James didn't have time to fix."

"I know that's it because I know my dad, Ben," Riley answered quietly, and the treasure hunter instantly believed him because of the look in his eyes.

"All right. So what about the second part?"

Riley smiled. "Let's just say that I was struck by sudden inspiration when we were driving over here," he told him. Then, he pulled out the jade cross pendant from beneath his shirt. "This is the key. The clue talks about the key being close to my heart, and this is the one thing that I always keep there. Plus, it makes sense since Jesse James also gave this to Clara however long ago, telling her that it would make sense once she figured out the map."

"That may be true," Abigail muttered, "but how do we use that key?"

"Well," Riley said, "I've been thinking about that, and I think we may have to follow Jesse James' example. Ben, could you pass me that chair please?"

Ben looked down at the chair that was sitting next to him, removing the "do not sit" sign before handing it to his best friend. Abigail cringed as she watched the techie climb on to the chair, preparing to straighten out the picture.

"Riley, I don't' know if you should do that…"

"What? The sign clearly says 'do not sit'," Riley replied with a smirk. "It doesn't say anything about not standing."

Abigail laughed a little while Ben smiled at the remark, and they both watched anxiously as Riley straightened out the picture. For a minute, nothing happened. But then, all three of them heard a loud click, and they watched as a panel on the wall slowly swung inward beside the techie. Ben exchanged a look with the younger man before walking forward and pushing it farther open, revealing a set of spiraling stone steps. Riley and Abigail exchanged excited smiles.

They had found the path that would hopefully lead them to the treasure.

A/N: Sorry about the heart-attack tiny section at the beginning. I couldn't resist. But this chapter was meant to show the different levels of Ian, and how in some cases, he's not as bad as he seems. But, now they just have to find the treasure. Is this it? You'll have to find out with my next update! Thanks for reading! Your reviews are much appreciated. Thank you!