A/N: So I FINALLY saw Book of Secrets tonight and OHMYGOD did I love it!!! Riley was just…omg amazing and Ben was totally awesome too. The only thing that ruined it was that stupid BenAbigail kiss at the end and that girl asking for Riley's autograph. C'mon people!! You're totally not helping the BRiley
Disclaimer: Maybe in my dreams…but I don't think even then I'm that lucky.
The small coffee shop across from Trinity Church buzzed with the energy of the New York City morning. But even the hustle and bustle of the busy city did nothing to keep Ben from looking around nervously and glancing at his watch every five seconds. Abigail peeked over at the treasure hunter from her place in the line. She didn't know how much more of this adventure the man could take. She doubted this isn't what neither him nor Riley signed up for when they started the hunt for the treasure. Abigail shook her head and faced the counter. The clerk looked to be about 17 years old and the look in her eyes said that she would rather be anywhere else at the moment. Abigail ordered the two coffees and went back over to her and Ben's table by the window. As she set the drinks down, Ben had just finished another obsessive-watch-check.
"Ben, relax. You still have about 10 more minutes before Ian shows up." The blonde said as a way of greeting as she took her seat across from the treasure hunter.
"What are you talking about? I'm relaxed."
Abigail sipped her drink and looked at him expectantly. "Ben, you must've checked your watch about 200 times in the past five minutes. They'll be here. Ian wants that treasure way too much to not show up."
Ben distractedly looked out the window for any sign of Ian before responding to Abigail. "Yeah," He grabbed his coffee and took a long sip. "I just can't shake the feeling that something is going to go horribly wrong."
The ride to New York had to be one of the longest, most uncomfortable experiences of Riley's life. He spent the entire trip squished in between Ian and Shaw sitting in silence for at least three hours. Riley was surprised that he lasted that long without so much as a sarcastic comment. Aside from that, he was also extremely hungry. He almost regretted not taking Ian's only offer of food. But then again, it was Ian and god knows what was in it. Probably worms, or poison, or…
"We're here boss," Powell said from the driver's seat, shattering Riley's odd thoughts. "At the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway."
Now fully alert, the techie glanced around frantically for any sign of the treasure hunter. Even just a glimpse of Ben would make this current situation a little bit better.
"Pull over," Ian commanded Powell. "They've got to be around here somewhere."
Ben tapped his fingers on the table nervously, resisting the urge to check his watch again. The feeling of uneasiness grew more and more with every passing second. He just wanted this nightmare to be over and have Riley safely in his arms again.
"It's 8:59, just in case you were wondering," Abigail spoke as if reading Ben's thoughts. It was scary how she could do that. The treasure hunter looked down at his diver's watch, and watched as the hands slowly moved to the position of the time he had been anxiously awaiting all day. He looked out the window just as Ian was stepping out of a black SUV parked across the street.
"Abby!" Ben jumped at least ten feet in the air. He grabbed the blonde's hand, nearly knocking the cups off the table in the process. He yanked her up out of her seat and out the door. The pair dashed across the busy city street and onto the adjacent sidewalk.
"Ian!" Ben shouted through heavy breaths. The Brit turned around at hearing the sound of his own name being called. He looked pleasantly surprised to see Ben and Abigail coming towards him, the Declaration in hand.
"Ben, how good it is to see you here on this fine day," Ian said in the most fake, happy, nice-to-see-you tone you would ever hear. "Then again, you didn't have choice." He curled his lips up in a smug smile.
Fighting the urge to pop Ian right in that arrogant mouth of his, Ben clenched his fist and said, "Where's Riley?" His voice demanding and urgent.
"Now now Ben, first things first," Ian wagged his finger, as if he was talking to a small child. "I still don't have my treasure and the deal was—"
"The deal is, I'm not doing anything until I know that Riley's still alive."
Ian scowled at the treasure hunter and his partner, and reluctantly, gave into their request. "Shaw, bring the little nerd over here…now!" The Brit commanded his flunky via walkie-talkie. Ben stared daggers at Ian and if it wasn't for Abigail's restraining hand on his arm, Ben would have been beating the crap out of his enemy.
"Why don't we continue this discussion elsewhere," Ian suggested, looking around at all the potential eyewitnesses.
"Fine," Ben agreed, realizing that having an audience might not be the best thing in this situation. "Let's go inside the Church, but not without Riley."
Ian shook his head. "You're impossible, Ben." His voice laced with growing impatience. "Shaw, meet us in the church."
Had it been any other time, Ben would've taken a moment to admire the beautiful architecture of the ancient masterpiece of a building. He made a mental note to come back when he wasn't trading a thousand year-old treasure for his best friend's life.
"Now Ben," Ian spoke, taking a seat in one of the rows of pews on the left side. "Let's have a look at this clue."
Ben looked at Ian, making no move to go through with his request. The Brit expelled an exasperated sigh. "He'll be here any moment." And as if on cue, the side door opened with a creak that carried through the walls of the church. A small, hooded figure was shoved through the door, followed by the rest of Ian's team.
"Riley," Ben breathed, relief flooding his body when he realized that the techie was alive. Riley looked up at hearing the sound of his name. His youthful face was covered in dried blood and bruises. A cut slashed through his upper lip. Ben couldn't help feeling guilty. He never should've dragged Riley into this. But he couldn't help that now. The only way for Ben to make this right was to find the treasure of the Knights Templar.
"See, you're little friend is fine, for the most part at least," Ian patted the empty space next to him, gesturing for Ben to sit down. "Come on Ben, time is running out."
Not taking his eyes off Riley, Ben sank down onto the pew, placing the Declaration and the glasses in between him and Ian.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot," The Brit reached into his jacket and pulled out a very familiar object that sent a pang of betrayal through Ben's heart. "The Meerschaum Pipe. All yours."
Ben took the pipe from Ian's hand with a bit of caution. He tucked it away safely before reaching down and grabbing the canister which contained the Declaration, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. Ben unrolled the document facing the side which contained the hidden map upwards. Ian took the map with eager hands as the treasure hunter took the spectacles and placed them on his face. The same, proverbial clue lit up the back of the document once more. Ben inhaled before reaching up and changing the colored lenses of the glasses. 'Heere at the Wall' morphed into 'Parkington Lane'. The treasure hunter expelled a relieved breath and adjusted the optic one last time. The clue now read, 'Beneath Parkington Lane.'
"Well its, uh, it's really quite something," Ben gaped, removing the glasses and handing them to Ian so he could have a look for himself. "It's really quite remarkable."
Ian took the spectacles and looked down a confused expression washed over his features.
"Parkington Lane?"
"Beneath Parkington Lane," Ben corrected. Ian's eyes were still cloudy with bewilderment.
"But why would the map lead us here, and then take us somewhere else?" He asked. "What's the purpose?"
"Maybe your father was right, Ben," Abigail's Saxony-German accent came from the row behind them. "Maybe, it's just a bunch on clues that—"
"No," Ben cut her off, his brain whirling with possible explanations for the second part of the cryptic clue. "He's right. Parkington Lane has to be around here somewhere."
"A Street inside the Church?" Ian inquired. He never understood these clues.
Ben scrunched up his face in thought. "Not inside, beneath. Beneath the Church."
"Well then, let's go." Ian rose from his seat, scooting past Ben and stomping down the aisle of the church.
"Ian, wait!" Ben called after the Brit, gathering the declaration and glasses and shoving them at Abigail. Ian stopped and turned to face the treasure hunter. "Ian we don't even know if the treasure's down there."
"Only one way to find out," Ian said, gesturing at Powell and Shaw to open the door to the church basement. Ben waved Abigail over and followed the Brit to the front row, stopping as soon as he got to Riley. He knelt down in front of his friend and placed a caring hand on his knee.
"I want you to stay here, Ri," Ben told the techie, who nodded with understanding.
"Truth be told Ben, I don't think I could move if I tried," Riley winced a little as he took in the breath he needed to speak. The sympathy on Ben's face melted away into fury. He looked into Riley's crystal blue eyes.
"I will get Ian back for what he's done to you. Mark my words." The treasure hunter promised. The computer geek nodded as if holding back tears. Ben tore his eyes away, not being able to handle seeing the single tear that fell down Riley's face. He looked down at the younger man's knee, rubbing circles on the demin with his thumb, trying to regain composure.
"Ben, c'mon," Ian coaxed from his place in the doorway. "The clock is ticking..."
Ben expelled an exasperated sigh, before turning back to meet Riley's broken pools of blue.
"I'll find that treasure for you," He assured the techie.
"I know you will, Ben." The treasure hunter made a move to get up, but was stopped halfway by Riley placing his hand on top of his own. Ben glanced at their hands and then back at the computer geek.
"Come here," The older man reached out with his free hand and pulled Rily forward until their lips met in a soft, chaste kiss. Ben pulled away and stood up fully, in one swift motion. He moved toward the door, reluctantly breaking eye contact with the amazing aquamarine pools he fell in love with, as he descended into the dark unknown.
A/N: Sorry about that guys, but come on, this moment was all too perfect for some Briley and I couldn't pass it up. Sorry, again, for any inconvienience this may have caused, but I think it was worth it, was it not: )