A/N: See? I told you it'd be a quick update. And it's a much longer one too. : ) Oh and the "historical facts" somewhere in the middle of this chapter…yeah I just made those up. There's nothing historical or factual about them. But then again its called fanfiction
Disclaimer:'(
Ben almost couldn't believe his ears when he heard Riley's weak voice coming from behind. When it finally registered that the techie was indeed talking to him and it wasn't just a figment of his imagination, the treasure hunter spun around so fast that he nearly toppled over.
"Riley, you're awake!" He exclaimed.
"He's awake?!" Abigail's equally shocked Saxony-German accent came from the doorway. She shuffled over to Riley's bed, balancing numerous amounts of food-stuffs in her arms.
"Ok, now that we've established the obvious, I'm starving." The techie sat up in bed, wincing at the sharp twinge of pain in his side. "Ian, got me good, huh?" He said, trying to make light of the situation, as he always did. "What exactly did he do to me?"
Ben and Abigail exchanged a glance.
"I'm going to go get the nurse and tell her you're awake," Was Abigail's way of telling Ben that he could handle it. The treasure hunter made a mental note to kill the blonde as he sat down in the all too familiar seat next to Riley's bed.
"You have a broken rib, three more of them are bruised; you have a concussion and a gunshot wound in your left side." Ben told him in one breath. Riley's blue eyes widened.
"Oh, is that all?" The young man's tone was laced with that familiar sarcasm.
" 'Fraid so," Ben shrugged, matching Riley's fascias pitch.
"How long was I out?"
"About four days." The treasure hunter answered automatically.
"You've been here all this time, haven't you? Didn't move a muscle in four days?" The techie asked, even though he already knew the answer.
Ben nodded. "Yeah, it was driving Abigail crazy." He said with a grin. Riley couldn't help but laugh, even though it hurt like hell. When the sounds of the light laughter dissipated, a heavy, awkward silence fell over the room. It was only broken when Abigail and Riley's nurse came jogging into the area. The nurse gestured for Ben to move out of her way so she could check all the machines that surrounded Riley.
"Everything seems to be normal," She announced, before turning and leaning over Riley's bedside. "How do you feel?" The nurse asked, running her fingers through the tousled hair of the techie. Ben couldn't help the jealously that bubbled up inside him.
"Like I've been shot," Was Riley's answer. The nurse smiled at her patient's witty sense of humor.
"I'm going to go get Dr. Hancock." She left the room and the awkward waves began to creep up again. Ben shuffled his feet nervously on the white tile floor; Riley played absently with his hospital bracelet before taking a deep breath and saying the one thing that had been bothering him this whole time.
"Ben, why did you lie to Ian?"
The treasure hunter's head immediately shoot up. "What are you talking about?" Ben could fee Abigail's piercing eyes, burning a hole in his back.
"You told Ian that there was a dead end, that there was no treasure." Riley explained. "Why, Ben?"
The treasure hunter sighed and sat down at the foot of the bed. "Because I didn't want Ian to have the treasure and you."
"You mean Ian wasn't going to…" The techie trailed off, trying to process everything with his pain killer induced brain.
Ben shook his head. "No, he wasn't. He had no intentions of letting you go, alive, with or without the treasure."
Abigail was still a bit skeptical. "Are you just assuming this? Or do you know for a fact that—"
"Sadusky told me that Ian confessed to the whole thing!" Ben snapped at the blonde. A ringing silence followed the treasure hunter's shouted words.
"Ian told one of the FBI agents that he was planning on killing Riley, regardless of whether or not I found the treasure. He was going to kill us all." Ben said his voice now softer and calmer. "So I figured if he was going to do what he was going to do anyway, why let him do that and have the most valuable treasure in all of mankind?"
Riley shrugged. "I guess that does make sense." Ben moved closer to the bed and took hold of the techie's hand.
"I didn't mean to put the treasure before you, but I thought this was the only way I would have even the slightest chance of saving you, of saving all of us." Riley's lips twitched at the corners and Ben gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Abigail was paying no attention to the two. She left them to stare longingly into each other's eyes as she paced back and forth in the front of the room. She contemplated the situation that had unfolded that day in the Trinity Church, before coming to a shocking realization.
"Wait, so that means the treasure does exist?" Abigail asked cautiously, not sure if this was what Ben was getting at.
"Geez, Abigail, I'm drugged up on morphine and even I knew that," Riley scoffed at the blonde historian. Abigail looked down at the floor, embarrassment turning her cheeks a soft shade or red. Ben snickered at the techie's remark, earning himself a look of daggers from Abigail.
"Well, we can't all be as smart as you, now can we Riley?" Dr. Chase turned from the treasure hunter to the techie when she said the smug remark.
"Will you two cut it out, I'm trying to think." Ben barked at the two of them. They were both acting like a couple of five-year-olds. The treasure hunter practically expected it from Riley, but it was just plain irritating on Abigail's part. Ben walked away from Riley's bed, trying collect his thoughts now that he was able to think coherently. Finally, after five minutes of intense silence, Ben turned to Riley and Abigail once more.
"We need to get that treasure."
Abigail expelled an exasperated sigh. "Ben, we're not going to be able to just waltz into the Trinity whenever we feel like it. After our little ordeal there, they really bulked up the security there. Do you know how many people are trying to get in to 'find' the treasure now? The place is crawling with tourists."
"Yes but, we are going to be able to sneak into the Church undetected." Ben challenged.
Abigail looked perplexed. "How?" The treasure hunter held up his index finger before reaching into his inside coat pocket and producing numerous maps of the city.
"I picked these up when we went to the gift shop," Ben explained, separating a purple covered one from the book. He unfolded it and laid it flat on Riley's bed.
"Ok, so here is Trinity Church," The treasure hunter indicated with his finger as Riley and Abigail leaned in closer to get a better look. "And here's Wall Street and Broadway. Now, to the Dutch settlers, Wall Street was once an actual wall, the boundary of their city, and in order to get clean water into the city, they built various tunnels and underground canals to transport the water from one place to another. After the British came and took over, they expanded the city, building over most of the tunnels, which still exist today, but very few know about them."
"So lemme get this straight," Riley spoke trying to take in everything that Ben had just said. "We're going to travel underneath New York City in order to elude guards and amateur treasure hunters, in hopes of getting our hands on the Templar treasure?"
The treasure hunter nodded. "Yes, I'd say that's just about right."
"Ok, I'm in." Riley answered without thinking twice, even though he was in no condition to be going on any kind of life-risking adventure. Ben smiled at the young man. Riley would truly travel to the ends of the earth and back with the treasure hunter by his side.
"What about you, Abigail?" Ben turned his gaze on the blonde. "You up for the final part of this quest?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." She said with a smile. Ben mirrored her expression when he spoke.
"Good." The treasure hunter shifted his eyes back to Riley and the smile on his face faded, only for a second, before turning determined.
"I'm going to go talk to Riley's doctor," Ben announced. Abigail gave him a nod of approval. "See how long he thinks Riley's going to be in here for."
"I'll go with you," Abigail offered. Ben flashed her a grateful smile, before once again, turning back to the techie.
"You'll be ok for a few minutes," The treasure hunter's voice came in a question. Riley smirked and nodded.
"Yes, Ben, I think I can manage a few minutes by myself." The computer geek answered. Without another word, Ben reluctantly turned away from Riley and went to follow Abigail out into the hallway. But when got halfway across the room, Ben stopped, turned around making a bee-line towards Riley. He reached the bed and gently ran a hand over one of the techie's checks before leaning in and kissing him. Riley reached up with his good hand and pulled Ben closer, deepening the kiss. When the lack of oxygen was beginning to catch up with them, they broke apart.
"What was that for?" Riley asked breathily. He winced as the air filled his oxygen deprived lungs.
"That was my way of saying 'get well soon,'" Ben grinned as the blush started to show on his cheeks.
"Well then, I guess I should have Ian shoot me more often."
Ben chuckled lightly as he stood up straight. "You should rest up," The treasure hunter advised. "Because I'm not going to leave you behind ever again."
A/N: Soooo….what'd you think of this chapter? Long enough for you? I'd like to hear everything you have to say…all you have to do is review. And I don't want to beg, but PLEASE!! I really want to get at least 100 reviews on this story. And time is running out…