Ben Gates snuck up behind a woman who was bent over a golden figurine. Abigail Chase screeched in surprise when he grabbed her around the waist. Giggling, she kissed him and turned back to her work. She was documenting the writing on the warrior. Though Abigail could not read it, she could still copy it down for later.

"Excited for dinner tonight?" Ben asked inconspicuously. Abigail's heart rose as she remembered why they decided to invite the entire family to dinner tonight. Her parents were flying in from New York for what they thought was going to be a short tour of Cibola. Patrick was staying with them in a cabin they had rented and Emily was coming back into town tonight with her college class. What they thought was a family dinner was much more than that. Ben and Abigail were going to announce their engagement.

Ben had asked her to marry him after he had moved back in with her. She had been uncertain at first, because of their split so many months earlier. However, Ben persisted and she gave into temptation. Abigail Chase undyingly loved Ben Gates.

"I can't wait! Finally I'll be able to wear the ring." Of course, when he proposed, Ben had a beautiful ring to give her.

It was not an ordinary engagement ring. Most of the Templar Treasure had been given to museums and historical chapters, but Ben had asked to keep a few things. One of them was a simple diamond ring he had found half buried in the dusty cave. Actually, he nearly stepped on it, but caught sight of the glinting gold. After a bit of studying, he found no initials or writing to explain where it had come from. He had a few of his colleagues from his treasure hunting escapades look into it. They suspected it belonged one of the few women who were Masons.

Abigail kissed his smiling lips gently. The golden warrior and the documents were soon forgotten. What was also forgotten was that they were not in a secluded place. Riley Poole had just entered their smaller cavern.

"Um. Excuse me?" He cleared his throat. "Ben, your mom is here."

"Great! Shall we?" Blushing, Abigail accepted the arm he was offering her. Riley rolled his eyes and led them out.

"Any intriguing college girls, Riley?" asked Abigail.

"There always is, Abby, there always is. They won't know what hit them." Ben and Abigail, doing their best not to burst out laughing as Riley strutted toward where Emily was assigning her class parts of the vast city. Emily hardly noticed him as he came up to her group.

"Did you have a nice flight, Emily?" Riley asked politely.

"Yes, thank you Riley," she said casually, surveying his closely as he searched the group. A small smile played on her lips. "Class, this is-"

"Riley Poole?" asked a dark haired girl in the front. "The author of the Templar Treasure?"

"Yes, yes I am." Riley flashed a smile.

"Well I guess since you can introduce yourselves, everyone can get to work. I do have a word of caution though if you are going to be exploring on your own. I have been informed that the south exits," she motioned behind her, "Are under construction. If you value your life, you'd stay away. There are uncontrollable cave-ins and I believe they are using small explosives over there too." The group dispersed, leaving Riley alone with the dark haired girl so interested in him.

"Jacqueline Forks." The girl offered her hand to him.

"Nice to meet you, Jacqueline. What a name…" Seeing the look on Jacqueline's face, he quickly recovered. "Not in a bad way…it's really pretty…beautiful actually. How did you learn to spell it in kindergarten?"

"At least I'm not a guy with a girl's name," she countered.

"Riley is not a girl's name!" retorted Riley, mentally slapping himself. Why was he so stupid when it came to women? She started to walk off to where she had been assigned to work. However, before she got out of hearing range, she turned.

"I went by Jacq for the first three years of my elementary schooling because Jacqueline was so long. All of my friends still call me that." With a wink, she turned the corner, leaving Riley with a smile. Ben walked up beside him.

"Who was that?"

"That is my future wife." Ben punched him teasingly in the arm. "Speaking of wives, have you popped the question yet?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe? Either you've asked her to marry you or not! What did she say no?" Riley laughed. This earned him another punch. "Hey, I'm just looking out for you- Don't want to end up like your parents, now do you?"

"They're getting along now…" Ben said defensively. However, when he searched the room and final found them together; they were clearly bickering about something. The sight made him give a small chuckle. Some things never change.

His mother stalked off toward the construction end of the cavern. She knew they were working with explosives over there, so he wondered why she was going that way.

"What is that kid think he's doing?" Riley asked. Sure enough, Emily was about to ring some students neck. The young man was walking into a cave that was clearly marked as a danger zone.

"Ahh, they aren't working right now- Mom will handle him. Kid? Riley, he's probably just as old as you. Not everyone was so smart they went through college in two years that usually took four." Riley rolled his eyes, but grinned none-the-less. He loved getting praised, but never asked for it. They began walking over to where Patrick and Abigail were talking with a few Professors from different colleges around the country.

A loud explosion rocked the room, sending the two flying through the air, along with everyone else within a ten yard radius of the dynamite. Rock and gold poured down on them in small pieces, larger chunks landing closer to the initial explosion. When the dust settled, Ben picked up his head and looked around. Riley was nursing a cut on the side of his face. Several workers were picking themselves off the floor, but everyone seemed fine.

Doing a quick check, Ben looked for his family. Riley was beside him, Abigail was still standing next to his father with a look of shock on her face. The only person missing…

"Mom!?" Ben stared at the place where they had seen her disappear; right where the explosives had erupted from. There was a deep crevasse where the small cave entrance once was. Ben felt his heart drop; anyone within several feet of the blast would have been killed instantly.

A/N: OoOoOo. Cliffie. You'll see more of the blast from Em's POV in the next chapter…maybe even her own view of her death. You never know. wink wink. Please tell me what you think!