A/n: God, if fanfiction chapters could kill…This one literally took FOREVER to write. I'm so sorry for the delay but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. Well, it depends.
Disclaimer: What do you think?
Three days later, Riley was released from the hospital. The doctor told him that he would make a full recovery in two weeks. So of course, Ben being, well, him, as soon as two weeks passed the historian led Riley and Abigail five stories under New York City. Though, if anybody told him that he'd be trudging around in yesterday's sludge, Riley would've stayed in the hospital.
"Ben, are you sure this was the only way in?" The techie whined, dodging a water droplet as it fell from the ceiling.
"Yes Riley, this was the only way in," Ben countered as he avoided a very dirty looking puddle. He shone his flashlight down the long tunnel that was once used for water transport. "Don't worry, we're almost there." He assured the computer geek.
"It's about time." Riley huffed. Though he was well enough to move around and get through the day without taking pain killers every hour and a half, Riley still wasn't up to his full strength. But he knew that this was the absolute last chance that they would have to retrieve the treasure, since they were due back in DC by tomorrow. Plus, after all he'd been through (getting held against his will, tortured, and shot) Riley was not about to leave New York empty handed.
The trio continued forward down the dark, dank tunnel. With each step they took, Riley grew more and more uneasy. Maybe it was just the fact that they were traipsing around in a two hundred-year old tunnel under New York City, but the techie had the weirdest feeling that they were being followed. He stopped for a moment, lingering to investigate the sound of what he sure was footsteps. Riley gulped.
"Uh, Ben?" He jogged to catch up with the treasure hunter. "I-I think there's something down here." The techie walked next to Ben, glancing around every which way for the owner of the supposed footsteps.
Ben heaved a sigh and continued on. "Riley, no one's been down here for at least a hundred years."
"Well, who says it has to be a person?" The techie gave Ben a look that told him he was about to go on about one of his famed conspiracy theories. "It could be an alligator, or a ghost, or mole people."
Ben chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I swear, you've been reading too many comic books."
"Says the one who spent half of his life searching for a treasure that no one believes exists," Riley countered.
"Touché."
"If Mr. and Mrs. Gates are through bickering," Abigail's voice came from further down the tunnel. "I think I found something." Ben and Riley exchanged a glance and headed in the direction of Dr. Chases' spoken words. They found Abigail standing in front of a cement wall, shining her light over the many different markings that covered it.
Intrigued, Ben moved next to her and began to examine the ancient symbols. Riley, however, was not impressed.
"Way to go, Abs. You found yet another dead end." The techie sighed, pessimism heavily coated his voice. He walked over to the far right wall and leaned up against it, allowing himself a long deserved rest. Abigail glared at Riley but her eyes were quickly averted back to Ben when he started to speak.
"No, I think Abigail's on to something," He said, running his fingers over the outline of the All Seeing Eye. "I think we've found a door."
"Ben, wait!" Riley cried throwing his hands out in alarm. "You don't know what's behind there. It could be the entire Hudson River! And as soon as you open it, this place is going to be flooded with water and we're all going to drown!"
"I don't think that's going to happen."
Riley placed his hands on his hips. "Well, how do you know?"
"Because I already got the door open," Ben gestured towards the now-open passage way, which aside from being extremely dark was perfectly dry. Riley looked away, embarrassed by his irrational outburst.
"Oh," The techie chuckled nervously, trying but failing miserably to play it off like he knew that all along. Ben rolled his eyes and ushered Riley inside of the passage way. That narrow hallway was even darker than the old aqueduct had been. They continued down the hallway a few more feet, before a torch that was hanging on the wall came into view though Ben's flashlight beam. He handed his light off to Riley and took the torch off the wall. The treasure hunter took the cigarette lighter he had held in his pocket for this specific occasion and instantly, the whole room was bathed in the orange glow of the flame.
"According to my calculations, the treasure should be just around this corner." Ben informed the others.
"I hope you're right Ben," Abigail's Saxony-German accent was laced with the smallest hint of doubt. She wasn't sure if any of them could take the disappointment of coming this far for nothing. Especially after all they've been through.
Just as Ben suspected, as soon as the group rounded the corner, they came to a stone doorway that had the same symbols as the one in the aqueduct did. The treasure hunter reached up towards the All Seeing Eye.
"This is it," He said. He took a deep breath. "Cross your fingers everybody…" Ben waited a few more seconds before slowly placing the hand on the ancient symbol. Riley could feel the hesitation and anxiety coming off the treasure hunter in waves. The techie placed a loving hand on Ben's shoulder, giving him the strength to push forward and reveal what was on the other side of that door.
Ben was the first to step inside of the passage way. His heart pounded with every step and he was pretty sure it was lodged in his throat. The treasure hunter walked forward into the room he was sure would be holding the greatest treasure known to man. But when they got there, he was horrified to see that he was indeed wrong. The room before them was empty, and looked to have been cleaned out hundreds of years ago.
"I don't believe it…" Ben breathed, looking around the room refusing to believe what stood in front of him. He felt as if he had just been smacked across the face. "I-It can't be." The treasure hunter's blue-grey eyes darted around the room for some sort of clue, some sort of sign that this wasn't over. There was nothing. He took a seat on a nearby stone wall.
"I need to think." Ben put his head in his hands and massaged his temples with his thumb. He heard a sigh and then his felt another body beside him. It was Riley.
"I'm sorry about this, Ben," The computer geek sounded on the verge of tears. Ben put his arm on the younger man's shoulder and pulled him in closer.
"It's ok, Riles. It's not your fault. It's mine for believing in a stupid treasure that I was too dense to see that it didn't even exist. It was a waste of time."
"No, it wasn't." Riley argued. "If you didn't drag me out of that god forsaken windowless cubicle in the middle of nowhere, none of this would've happened and I would've never met you. And think about the Charlotte. That was fun, right? I mean, we found out our financer was a traitor, we got blown up and we found that useless million dollar pipe that…"
"That's it!" Ben exclaimed, jumping up out of his seat. "The pipe! The Secret Lies with Charlotte." He took the pipe from his pocket and walked towards the back wall. As he approached, he could see a carving in the center of the wall. Ben looked down at the pipe and back up at the wall.
"Could it really be that simple?" He removed the stem of the pipe and placed the head of the pipe into the carved out space in the limestone. To his surprise, it fit. The treasure hunter then inserted the stem into rocked and turned. At first, nothing happened, but then a gust of wind came and with an audible scrape of stone against stone, a doorway to the left of them opened up. Ben grabbed the torch and darted in to the chamber, Abigail and Riley following not too far behind.
"Oh my god…"
There, before them stood the greatest treasure known to all mankind. The one nobody thought existed. The one people spent lifetimes searching for with no avail and here they were standing no more than three feet in front of it.
"Scrolls from the library at Alexandria, could this be possible?" Abigail said as she had already begun examining and marveling at the Templar treasure.
"I can't believe you did it," Riley said to Ben as they too stared in awe at the treasure.
"No, we did it, Riley," Ben wrapped his arm around the techie's shoulder and pulled him close. "All of us, together." The treasure hunter motioned for Abigail to join in the group hug. "I couldn't have done it without any of you."
"As much as I hate to break up this sentimental moment," A voice from behind startled the three triumphant treasure hunters. They spun around and found themselves staring down the barrel of a gun held by none other than Ian Howe.
A/n: Uh-oh! I know what you're thinking, "Why can't Ian just go away so Ben and Riley can live a happily ever after?" I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me for leaving you in yet another cliff hanger. See I just got back from seeing Vantage Point and I'm in kind of a twisty mood. Review and the update will come faster!