Well, here's Chapter 2! Enjoy!

And by the way, just in case someone doesn't know, the territory of Nunavut is mentioned. That's a territory up in Northern Canada that goes up into the Arctic Circle. Just to let you know.

Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure, yeah. I also don't own the Louvre Museum, any of the paintings there, or any places in Canada.

And thanks to Danielle for beta-ing!

(-\/-)

"Ben!"

Samantha looked up at her friend, observing him closely. He had changed since their last encounter, which had been a little over a year ago. His face appeared more serious, more worn, but he had a familiar twinkling in his eyes that had never changed over the past 20 years that she had known him. And she had feeling that it never would.

A faint smile crossed Ben's lips as his eyes fell on the pair who had called out his name.

"Samantha," He said by way of greeting, giving her a grin. Blue eyes met green, and she suddenly rushed forward, embracing him.

"Ben! You're looking very well." She released him, smiling brightly.

"You look good yourself. But what happened to your…?" Ben frowned slightly at the stain on her blouse.

Samantha sighed, jabbing a thumb towards the younger man beside her, who gave Ben a nervous wave.

"Hey Ben."

"Hey Riley. I see you're already trying to impress her with your grace," Ben teased, setting his coat down on one of the chairs.

Riley scowled in Ben's direction, and Ben laughed.

"Well I guess I should introduce you two formally," He smiled, motioning a hand at Samantha. "Riley, this is Samantha Evans, the friend of mine who helped start this search. Samantha, this is Riley Poole, our computer technician."

Samantha nearly choked on her coffee upon hearing these words. She looked at Riley for a moment, incredulous. Then she turned to Ben, searching has face for any sign that he was joking. He wasn't.

"Ah, Ben, could I speak with you privately for a moment?"

Without waiting for a response, Samantha grabbed Ben by the arm, pulling him into the corner.

"He's the technician?" Her voice sounded flat. "He's just a kid. Is he even out of college?"

"I'm 26!" Riley said, sounding slightly annoyed. Samantha gave him a smoldering look before turning back to Ben.

"Look, he might be a kid, but he designed the tracking model we're going to be using and he's really good at this kind of stuff. Give him a break."

Samantha sighed, taking a seat at the table.

"So, Ben, tell me about Charlotte."

Ben shook his head, attempting to hide another grin.

"Patience, Samantha."

"Patience?! Benjamin Franklin Gates, you of all people should know that patience is a virtue that I do not possess!"

Ben chuckled.

"Ah, so Paris hasn't changed that about you, has it?" He shook his head again, a smile playing on his lips. "We're still waiting for one member of our team. Ian Howe. He's the one who's paying for this trip. He'll be joining us."

"Ian's coming?" Riley hardly looked pleased upon receiving this news. Ben rolled his eyes.

"What do you have against Ian?"

"Nothing, he just bothers me," The younger man shrugged, not looking Ben in the eye. The older man shrugged, turning to face Samantha.

"So, how was Paris?"

"Oh, it was beautiful, Ben!" She began to gush. "Paris is such a nice city, especially in the springtime, when the flowers are blooming. I must have looked at everything there is to see! I went sight-seeing nearly every day, there's so much culture. And I got to see La Gioconda!"

"What?" Riley was apparently not familiar with the name.

"Mona Lisa! And Madonna of the Rocks, and so many other beautiful painting, it was an art lover's heaven!"

"What'd you think of the Louvre?"

Samantha opened her mouth to respond when the door opened again, and the cool April air rushed into the shop. The newest customer was a taller man with shaggy blonde hair, wearing a nice suit. In fact, everyone in their little group was wearing formal looking clothing, except for Riley, who was wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

"Ben." The blonde man walked over to the table, shaking Ben's hand.

Samantha noticed he had a British accent.

"Nice to see you again. Riley." He gave the young man a nod, and Riley returned the gesture, though he looked much less pleased to see the man then Ben had.

The Brit then turned to Samantha, who had risen to her feet to greet the newcomer.

"And who might you be?"

"Samantha Evans," She gave Ian a small smile.

"You're from Paris," He noted with a smile.

"No, I just spent the last few months there."

"Ah, yes, well, Ben told me quite a bit about you. However, it seems he forgot to mention how pretty you are," Ian took her hand in his, bringing the back of her hand to his lips. "Ian Howe."

Samantha turned a soft shade of pink.

"Thank you, Mr. Howe; it's a pleasure to meet you," She gave him a soft smile, and they both seated themselves.

"Well, since we're all here, let's get down to business," Ben announced, trying not to speak too loudly and bring attention to the small group. "Riley, did you bring the map of the location?"

Riley nodded wordlessly, opening up the backpack that sat at his feet. He pulled out a large sheet of paper and set it on the table for everyone to look at.

"It's in Northeastern Nunavut, but it's rather far from the coast. This thing wasn't easy to track down, but I did it," He looked rather proud of himself as he made this announcement. "There's a village about 30 miles away from the site. I just don't know how to pronounce its name. Anyways, we should be able to take the snow-mobiles the rest of the way. And those have been taken care of, by the way."

"Wait, a second, I'm confused," Samantha spoke up. "What exactly are we looking for? I thought Charlotte was a person."

Ben shook his head.

"I thought so too, but it turns out she was a ship. She left Boston in the mid-1700's, heading for London, but her course was changed by a massive storm and she ended up in Canada."

"Oh, Samantha sat back in her chair, her expression thoughtful. "When did you figure this out?"

"About 3 or 4 months ago," Riley shrugged, tucking the map back into his backpack.

"Next order of business," Ben announced. "Ian, did you contact your partners?"

"Yes I did. We have enough funds for all of our supplies and the other costs. We'll be able to leave on the 22nd, and we should be able to return by the 25th."

Ben nodded.

"So, we have two weeks?" Samantha figured. "How much preparing will we have to do?"

"Not much, we'll just need to get basic supplies for living and extra clothing," Ben turned back Ian. "You mentioned you would be bringing along a few men to help with the excavation?"

"Ah, yes, I'll be bringing along a team of several men to help with the digging," Ian nodded.

"So, that's it?" Samantha asked, surprised. "I figured there'd be some long drawn out discussion about all of the details."

"Well, everything has been set up, so that won't be necessary," Ben explained.

"Well then…" Samantha stood up, smoothing out her skirt. "I've got to get back to the school. I've got another class in an hour and I still have lots of preparing to do. I will see you all in two weeks, gentlemen. And Riley."

Riley rolled his eyes at her, and she smirked at him. Giving one last wave to Ben, she walked out the door.

She was halfway down the sidewalk when she realized she'd forgotten her jacket. She turned to get it, and was surprised to see Riley standing outside the shop, her jacket in his hands.

"Forget something?" It was his turn to smirk. Samantha reached to take the jacket from him, but he pulled it back, making a tsk-ing sound "What's the magic word?"

The annoyed female snatched the jacket from Riley's hands with out a word.

"Thank you," She threw the words over her shoulder, already walking away. She noticed that her hands had balled up into fists, and she was gritting her teeth, more than slightly annoyed.

'Why do I get the feeling this trip is going to be a lot more difficult than I imagined it would be?'

(-\/-)

Thanks for readings! Please review!! : )

Chapter 3 Preview:

"What happens when the flare burns down, Ben?" Ian asked tauntingly. "Just tell me what I need to know."

"You need to know…" Ben paused, thinking. "If Shaw can catch!" He threw the flare into the air, and everyone held their breath as Ian reached up and caught it carefully.

"Nice try, Ben…" Suddenly Ian's coat burst into flames, and he let out a shout of pain as the flare fell to the ground. Samantha let out a scream that echoed off of the walls of the small cargo hold.

Fire: She had hated it since she was a young girl, just 6 years-old. The fear still had a tight grip on her, and she was paralyzed with fear as flames began to leap around her and acrid smoke filled her lungs. She remained in the shocked daze until she felt Riley pulling on her arm, tugging her towards where Ben stood.

"Come on, we've got to go!"