Woo, another request-fic!

This ended up being a prequel to my other story, Embraces. So if you've read that, awesome. If not, go read it. (Please?)

These requests are starting to get lives of their own…stupid plot bunnies. *grumbles*

Disclaimer: Still don't own. And I definitely reference save changes to normal's Closed Break. And also How I Met Your Mother. But that's not quite as important.

Moniker

(For a while he knew Riley as Jamie, right around when they met in college. He switched to James shortly after, and Riley after graduation, but every once in a while he'll still slip up and call the younger man 'Jamie')

He was pretty sure Ben had a concussion.

Actually, he was pretty sure Ben had a lot worse than a concussion, and he was fairly certain that the dull throb in the back of his skull was a concussion of his own, but one of the thoughts that kept coming back around was that Ben had a concussion.

He couldn't actually see Ben, so it was kind of hard to tell, but Riley figured something had to be wrong. Because A) Ben wasn't moving, B) Ben wasn't taking charge, and C) Ben kept calling him Jamie.

Nobody had called Riley Jamie since he was twenty.

True, Ben sometimes slipped up when he wasn't paying attention- he had done it earlier today.

They had been in this cave, looking for something. Riley couldn't remember what, which should probably be more worrying than it currently was. But they had come across this puzzle, and they had to twist all of these things to face a different way, all at the same time or fairly close or it wouldn't work.

And Riley had gotten his fairly easily, because he wasn't that strong but once you figured out how the thing spun it wasn't that difficult.

And Ben was having trouble with his, and he yelled and Riley scrambled over to help him.

It hadn't occurred to him until just now that Ben hadn't said Riley.

(dundundun)

Technically, he was enrolled under his real name- Riley James Poole- for the first time in a few years, but he had taken down the tag on his dorm that said 'Riley' and replaced it with a Post-it that said 'Jamie'.

Yeah, it was kind of a kid's name, but he liked it better than Riley, and besides, it wasn't like he was going to become a social butterfly or anything.

His roommate was kind of a jerk, but he could deal. It turned out there were idiots everywhere, even at one of the highest-ranked schools in the country. The important thing was that he get a degree, because his computer skills were great, but they weren't technically legal.

Besides, he told himself, he was still young enough to pull off a kid's name like Jamie. He was seventeen- ok, he had lied a little on the application, but he had graduated early, it still counted- but he looked closer to fourteen, as his roommate had been so kind to point out.

As long as he kept his head down and his mouth shut, he'd be fine.

(NT)

Ben wasn't moving.

This was worrying, because moving is generally a good thing to do, even after you've fallen off a small cliff. Moving meant you weren't stuck in a crumpled heap at the bottom.

Riley really wanted to make sure Ben was alright, means it would be a huge problem if he wasn't, because oh my gosh Ben isn't moving and Ben isn't saying anything and Ben's always okay why isn't he okay? and it was really hard for him to keep focus when his head kept going thump-thump-thump.

He swung in his harness slightly and hissed as the straps dug into his ribs. The motion made him kind of dizzy, and he decided that doing it again probably wasn't the greatest idea.

He flipped open his phone again and checked for service, as if the little bars would magically appear if he stared at the screen for long enough.

Ben wasn't taking charge.

This was also worrying, because Ben always took charge. He was a take-charge kind of guy. Granted, one gets a little bit of leeway when falling off a cliff, but it was his own stupid fault that he wasn't hooked into his harness because what sort of idiot unhooks himself that close to a cliff oh my god.

He peered over the rim of the cliff, leaning as far to the side as he dared and pretending that the sudden drop didn't make him want to start panicking.

Oh.

Yep, that was a pretty big drop.

He flipped open his phone again.

(dundundun)

The guy- Ben- was in three of his classes. It was kind of weird, because he was at least a decade older than Jamie and already had his degree in something or other- it never came up in conversation because honestly he didn't really care.

But they were friends. They were actually roommates for a semester, when Ben's girlfriend dumped him and Jamie's roommate finally got expelled for nearly blowing up the cafeteria.

They got along pretty great, but Ben was practically old enough to be his dad (even if his brother was older), and honestly, he was doing pretty good at the whole 'friends' thing. Still, Ben was probably the only guy he could see himself staying in touch with a couple years after they all got out with their diplomas.

He never even mentioned the treasure until a week or two before they graduated, when their entire Nineteenth Century America class went out for drinks after the final (Riley still wasn't technically twenty-one, but Tony ordered drinks all around and the bartender was way too busy to bother checking everyone's IDs.)

Long story short, he and Ben got fairly tipsy, and Ben went off on a little monologue about some treasure and some secret society and a chick named Charlotte and it was all a little weird, but he could tell it was important to Ben so he nodded along dutifully and flirted subtly with the girl two tables over.

He never figured Ben would call him up eighteen months later with a job offer.

(NT)

Ben kept calling him Jamie.

This was extremely worrying.

Because, yeah he slipped up sometimes, just like Riley had to stop himself from calling Abby 'Abbers'. (Heck, he was surprised she let him get away with Abby.)

But he didn't do it often, and he nearly always caught himself.

Now it was like he was talking to a different person.

"-and Professor Schevatsky kicked Barney out of class, because he was flirting with her TA- or maybe it wasn't her TA. Jamie? Wait. Jamie, you here?"

He could remember Schevatsky, but he couldn't remember Riley?

Worse, this definitely didn't sound like ramblings over the treasure they were supposed to be finding. This sounded like reminisces from their college days.

He couldn't decide which was worse.

"Yeah," he called, steadfastly ignoring the pain in his ribs.

"What's going on?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" He can practically hear the gears in Ben's head working.

"We were doing…something. Were we at a party? You dragged me to a party, didn't you? Jamie, we've got finals in two weeks."

This was bad. This was very very bad.

"Ben."

"Yeah?"

"What day is today?"

"Wednesday."

"What's the date?"

"…The eighteenth. Of May. Finals start next week. Jamie….are you drunk?"

He couldn't breathe- he didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

"I'm not drunk, Ben." The fact that his words were starting to slur probably didn't help his case. God, he was tired. "Ben, something happened. You've got to trust me. Are you hurt?"

He could hear Ben moving, and the instant cry of pain answered Riley's question rather effectively.

"What-"

"I know. I know, Ben," he said. "Just don't move. I'm trying to get help."

He fumbled for his phone, glanced at the service, and swore.

"I don't have any service."

"I do. Why is my phone set for two-thousand ten?" Riley blinked, then pushed off from the wall to stare down at Ben.

"You have service?"

"I always have service. Your phone sucks."

Ah, Ben. Even when concussed and possibly bleeding out, his sense of humor remained.

"Call nine one-one."

"…Where's the eleven key?"

"Press the one twice, Ben."

"Right. What do I tell them?"

"Tell them Ben Gates and Riley Poole are trapped in the Clarksville caves. Our car is parked outside the entrance. I think we're going to need an ambulance. Tell them to call Peter Sadusky." He listened as Ben carefully relayed the information, pausing to clarify with Riley on several points. He heard Ben end the call and tried to calculate how long they had until rescue arrived.

"Your last name is Poole, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Why'd you tell 'em Riley?"

"It's my name, Ben."

"I thought your name was Jamie."

"My middle name is James."

"But I thought-"

"I know, Ben," he sighed. "I know." There was a long pause. "Ben, are you okay?"

"'Hurts," he muttered. "What's happening?"

"You fell off a cliff. What hurts?"

"Why'd I do somethin' like that? Everything."

"Because you're convinced that there's treasure in here somewhere."

"There's always treasure. Like Charlotte."

"Yeah. Just like Charlotte."

"Did I tell you about Charlotte, Jamie?"

"Yeah, Ben. You did."

"Oh." He went quiet again, and Riley kept picturing him sprawled out on the ground and he couldn't find the energy to make sure he's okay. He hung there, his harness making worrying creaking noises and straining his ears for sirens.

"Tell me anyway, Ben. Don't stop talking."

"Ok. When I was ten, my granddad told me this story about…" Riley's heard the story a dozen times, and lived through parts of it, so he listened half-heartedly through the growing fogginess in his mind.

It's a few moments until he realized Ben had trailed off, and he squinted back downwards in the general direction of Ben's voice. "Ben?"

"Yeah, Jamie?"

"What's wrong?"

"'M really tired."

"Ben, don't fall asleep. You've got a concussion. Keep talking. What's your dad's name? Your mom's?" Silence. "Ben, what's my name?"

"Jamie…"

"Ok. Ok. Who was the first president?" Silence. "Come on, Ben. Don't do this. First president. Cherry tree, crossed the Delaware." Silence. "Ben?"

Silence.

"Ben!"

He could hear sirens blaring, and it kind of made his head pound but he honestly couldn't remember being happier in his entire life.

People made their way toward them, cautiously but way too slowly for Riley, who urged them past him and down toward Ben without a second thought. It's only after Ben is hooked into a rope and brought back to the surface that Riley allowed himself to be disentangled and pulled up out of the cave, where he promptly collapsed at the brightness outside.

Everything after that was a little fuzzy. He vaguely remembered seeing Ben being loaded into an ambulance, and yelling for him, and Ben not moving, and seeing his body twisted in ways it shouldn't be before a group of people surrounded him.

His ribs were killing him, and his head was swimming, and he couldn't get enough air, even though they were out of the cave and why isn't there any air what's happening to me where's Ben? and he might have struggled but then they put on an oxygen mask and something pricked his arm and after that everything was white.

(NT)

He's working in an office doing stupid projects that a monkey with a computer could do, and it's only been three weeks but he already hates it. This is his third job in sixth months, and he literally can't afford not to do it, but it really sucks.

The phone rings twice, the code for a personal call, and he stands up in his seat to shoot a smile towards Sadie, the person-who-manages-calls, before settling back and picking up the phone.

"You've reached Riley, leave a message at the beep. Beeep!"

"Jamie?" He sits up so fast papers nearly go flying.

"Ben?"

"Yeah. What happened to Jamie?"

"I'm kind of going by Riley now. I figure since it's actually my name and all, I might as well."

"Ok. Listen, can I buy you lunch sometime this week?"

"I'm flattered, Ben, but you're not really my type."

"Shut up, Jam- Riley. You remember Charlotte?"

"Of course."

"I think we found her."

"We?"

"I've got some help. But listen- we need someone that's good with a computer."

"As awesome as that sounds, I kind of need this job. Unless that treasure involves Ramen noodles."

"We can work something out- just meet me for lunch."

"You in town?"

"Never left."

"Cool- I'll meet you at that one place in twenty minutes. The one that has the great chicken sandwich?"

"Isn't it a little early for a lunch break?" Riley glanced at his watch. 10:07. Oops.

"Who cares- this job sucks. Meet me there?"

"Sure."

"You're buying?"

"If you insist."

"Awesome. Bye, Ben."

"Bye, Jamie."

"Riley," he said.

But Ben had already hung up.

(Fin)

Heheh…I feel kind of bad now. Poor Ben. Heck, poor Riley.

I'm having an absurd amount of fun writing these requests.

But they're definitely going to take a while.

So sorry 'bout that. But hoped you enjoyed!