This is it, the end! I appreciate you all sticking with me to the end! I hope you all like the ending.

When Valerie opened her eyes, she could hear beeping and some people bickering. Her eyes were unfocused, so she just saw colors. She groaned when she felt the pain in her shoulder. The bickering stopped and two of the colors approached her. She realized she was laying in a bed and was dressed in a hospital gown. Her eyes slowly focused and she saw Ian standing on her left and Riley standing on her right. All of the others from the treasure hunt, minus Abigail and Patrick, were in the room also.

"How are you?" Ian asked. He took her hand in both of his and sat down in a chair next to her.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Shaw's gun went off when you moved the gun away from me." Riley explained before Ian could. "The bullet bounced off the walls and hit you in the shoulder." He pointed to her right shoulder. "We got you to a hospital and the doctors operated on you to remove the bullet."

She looked at her shoulder and found it wrapped in gauze. That explained the pain in her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Val." Shaw said. "I should've put the safety back on."

"It's not your fault, it's mine. I shouldn't have touched your gun." She said.

"Val . . ." Ian began, his one hand reached for his pocket as his other stayed holding her hand.

"I'm in love with you." Riley blurted out. Everyone's attention turned to him. "I've been in love with you since the day I met you. Since the second I SAW you! I can just tell that you're the one for me. Forget about Ian, and be with me."

Valerie seemed shocked at his confession.

"But Riley-" She began to protest.

"He got you shot! He made you come to the Arctic and then face two of your worst fears just to get you shot! He's no good for you!" Riley argued.

"Back off Riley." Ian said, standing up.

"No." Riley said forcibly. "Why do you get to have her? You've done nothing but hurt her!"

"At least I've known her for longer than a year!" Ian shouted back. This wasn't good, Ian hoped that Valerie wouldn't go back to her adrenaline phase and go to Riley because it could be fun.

"I felt something when I first saw her, did you?" Riley yelled.

Ian paused, clenching his fists. "Get out."

"Is that a no?"

"I said get out! And take Ben and the others with you! You can have the treasure just leave us alone!" Ian yelled.

"Why don't we let her decide who she wants to be with?" Riley said and everyone looked at Valerie.

She looked very upset. "Can we call a doctor or something? My shoulder really hurts." She said softly, not meeting any of their eyes.

"Of course." Ian said. He nodded to Shaw, who left the room for a doctor.

Ian sat back down next to her and took her hand again.

"Don't choose Riley. I don't know how I'll live without waking up to you." Ian said softly.

Riley sat down on the other side of Valerie.

"I can't imagine my life without seeing you everyday. After we split up in the Arctic was torture for me." Riley said at the same volume.

"Don't make it seem like we'll ever be anything more than friends." Valerie said to Riley, tears in her eyes. "That's all you were to me, a really good friend. And you think a confession like that after all that time of being on different sides will suddenly win my affections? We were just enemies! You couldn't have expected anything other than this." Riley looked sad. "I've been dating Ian for five years. I've known you for one. It's not a contest at all. I love Ian. You just succeeded in making me feel bad for choosing him. It's not going to stop my choice. Are you really that naive?"

Riley looked completely heartbroken. He looked away from her. Ian, on the other hand, smiled at her. He stroked her hand with his thumb.

"Val, I gotta ask you something." Ian reached for his pocket again.

Riley stood up and left the room, knowing what was coming, and Ben followed him out.

Ian got down on one knee and said, "Valerie Olivia Dawson, will you marry me?" He pulled out the ring box and opened it to show an engagement ring.

She was speechless for a moment, but said, "Yes. Oh yes!"

They were both smiling like crazy as Ian put the ring on her finger. He kissed her passionately and held her in his arms. The doctor and Shaw came in and they separated.

"Your shoulder is bothering you?" The doctor asked, seeming embarrassed at walking in on that.

"Yes. It has a throbbing pain to it. Could I get something for it?" Valerie told him.

"Certainly. I'll just up your morphine." He went over to a machine by her and pushed a couple of buttons. Valerie felt the pain go away.

"Just come find me if you need anything else." He said and left the room.

"I take it she said yes?" Shaw asked Ian, motioning to the ring on Valerie's finger.

"Yes she did." Ian said.

"Wait, you KNEW? And you didn't tell me?" Valerie said.

"Well I wasn't supposed to." Shaw said.

"I wasn't even supposed to propose now. I was going to do it once we found the treasure." Ian told her.

"That's why you wanted to find it so badly! And why you wanted me to come! Oh, that's so romantic!" Valerie said.

"Too bad it didn't work out." Ian said.

"What are we going to do about the treasure?" Powell asked.

"We know it's down there. We just don't know how to get to it." Ian said.

"Are we going to try to find it with Ben and the others?" Valerie asked.

Everyone stayed quiet for a moment.

"No." Ian said.

"But we need Ben to find it." Shaw said.

"We're not going to find it." Ian said. He looked at Valerie. "I have everything I could possibly want right here. There will be other jobs we can do. This one was just for fun, it never meant anything."

He stared at Valerie for a few more seconds.

"Could we call the cops on Ben and his friends?" Ian suggested.

"Riley won't last in prison." Valerie said.

"But he was stupid and tried to take you away from me. I want him to suffer for trying. I don't want him living the high life." Ian told her.

"We have no right to turn them in when they could turn us in." Valerie told him. He agreed to this.

NTNTNTNTNT

Riley exited the room and Abigail and Patrick walked up to him.

"Did you ask her?"

"Is she okay?"

"What did she say?"

Ben put his hand on Riley's shoulder and answered for him. "She's fine, and she told him it would never happen."

"I was an idiot for trying. They've been together for five years! Why did I think I ever had a chance?" Riley said.

"It's alright." Patrick said. "There are others out there that aren't taken."

"Maybe they will break up." Abigail said hopefully.

"Not anytime soon, Ian just proposed to her." Ben said.

Everyone went into an awkward silence.

"Then let's go and find that treasure, huh? It'll get your mind off things." Patrick suggested and everyone agreed.

NTNTNTNTNT

"Someone's got to go to prison, Ben." Agent Sadusky said.

Ben was quiet for a minute, unsure if he wanted to turn Ian in after just proposing to Valerie.

"Ian Howe!" Riley shouted.

"Riley-" Ben protested.

"And Shaw, and Viktor, and Phil, and Powell!" Riley shouted.

"Riley, we can't." Ben said.

"I thought they made you steal the Declaration." Sadusky said.

"But I can't turn them in. Not now. Ian just proposed to his girlfriend." Ben explained.

Sadusky was quiet for a moment.

"Someone has to go to prison." He repeated.

Ben bit his lip, thinking. Turn Ian in and ruin his happiness or go to jail himself for a very long time?

"Would I get bail?" Ben asked.

"Stealing the Declaration of Independence is a big deal, Ben. You won't get bail." Sadusky told him.

He sighed. "Then I know what I want to do."

NTNTNTNTNT

Ian and Valerie were in bliss as they talked in the hospital room. The others were still there, just not wanting to interrupt their happiness. Suddenly, FBI agents entered the room. Other agents handcuffed the others as one walked up to Ian.

"Mr. Howe?"

"Yes?"

"You're under arrest for kidnapping, attempted murder, and trespassing on government property." The agent said. He turned Ian around and handcuffed him.

"Relax, Val. Everything will be fine." Ian told her when he saw her panicked face.

She nodded as they were all led away. The machine that monitored her heart rate started beeping rapidly.

One agent came up to her. "I'm sorry, Ms. Dawson."

She was suddenly angry. "You tell RILEY POOLE that he should just GET OVER IT! He has no right ruining my life!"

The agent cautiously left the room and a nurse came in to calm her down. Valerie broke down into tears and cried into her hands.

NTNTNTNTNT

After their trial and her release from the hospital, Valerie used the money she had saved plus money she got from selling some stuff on the black market to bail Ian out of jail. Once he was out and his bank account unfrozen, Ian got the others out of jail. Valerie and Ian planned their wedding and got married eight months later. They still do heists, but are starting to slow down since Valerie found out she was pregnant.

The End

There's the ending! I hope you liked it! It was always going to end this way, and I liked the way it ended and hoped you did too! I love you all and appreciate you sticking with me until the end! And I MAY be persuaded to make a sequel for Book of Secrets. But you have to show me how much you want it!

Also, if you were wishing for a Riley/OC ending then i suggest reading Shaylon Ashriel's story Scottish By The Grace Of God (http:/ www. fanfiction. net / s / 7036547 / 1 / Scottish_By_The_Grace_Of_God) because that story will satisfy your Riley/OC needs.