Riley Poole x reader ~A National Treasure Fanfiction~

Chapter 6

Riley grumpily sat next to you, jealously eyeing Abigail who occupied his usual seat next to Ben. "So what did it say, Riley?" "W-what?" Riley, who hadn't been listening and was embarrassed to be caught moping, stammered. Ben took a sharp turn and repeated, "What did the andor cipher say?" "Oh, yeah. Right." Riley whipped out a folded-up newspaper and read, "The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow." For a second he looked a little smug and started to inform Ben, "Pass and Stow refers to..." "The Liberty Bell." Ben promptly finished for him. "Do you always have to do that?" Riley complained, setting the newspaper down. Ben mused to himself, "So the way to read the map comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the liberty bell." You asked, still a little confused, "The timely shadow refers to a specific time, right? Any idea what that time is?" Ben thought for a moment. Then slowly said, "No... wait! Riley, find a 100 dollar bill." He tossed his dad's wallet into the back seat with you and Riley. Riley caught it with one hand, and then started hunting for the bill. "Found one!" He triumphantly shouted a couple seconds later, holding it high in the air. "Congrats. Now if you look on the back," Ben began, "There's an etching of Independence Hall. Look at the clock tower. Do you see a specific time?" Riley peered at the money and squinted. "Yeah. two..." He paused for a second. "Twenty-two." Ben nodded. "Okay. 2:22. What time is it now?" Riley rolled up his sleeve and glanced at his well-loved watch. "Almost three." Abigail sighed. "So we missed it?" Ben gave her a half-hearted smile and muttered, "Yeah." Riley shook his head. "Of course we didn't miss it. Because..." He trailed off, noticing that Ben hadn't finished his sentence for him. "Wait, hang on, you don't know this?" Ben glanced over at Riley, irritation flashing through his eyes. "I'd be happy to learn about it, Riley." Riley shook his head, incredulous. "Wow... just wow. Do you feel like this all the time? Except for now of course." Ben let out a short sigh. "Riley." "Alright... Just give me a second to enjoy this..." Abigail barked, "Riley!" "Okay! What I know," He paused just briefly, clearly enjoying this. "Is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War one. So in 1776 it would have been two pm instead of three right now." A wide grin broke onto Ben's face. "You're a genius Riley! So we didn't miss it!" Abigail nodded vigorously. "Not yet, anyway. We've got to hurry!" 

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You, Riley, and Abigail were waiting in the signing room in Independence Hall while Ben was getting whatever he had to get from the andor cipher. Riley drummed his fingers impatiently on the window sill, staring out for any sign of Ben. "What's taking him so long?" Abigail rolled her eyes at you and you giggled in response. "What?" Riley turned towards the two of you. Thankfully, you were saved from answering by Ben, who silently opened and closed the door, carrying a pair of colored glasses-like things. "They're some kind of ocular device." Ben informed you all. "Benjamin Franklin invented something like this..." Abigail observed. Ben let out a laugh. "He invented these." Riley stared at the spectacles. "What do we do with them?" Ben explained in an overly patient voice as if he was talking to a toddler, "We look through them." Ben pulled out the Declaration of Independence and paused. "What?" Riley prompted. Ben glanced around him. "It's just... the last time this was here, it was being signed." The four of you stood in solemn silence for a minute, until Riley noted, "I'm all for being sentimental and whatever, but there's another tour coming. So we gotta hurry." Ben nodded, and shook himself out of the daze. "Help me flip it over." You and Abigail slowly turned the Declaration face-down while Ben stared through the spectacles. "What's it say?" You questioned. Ben took off the spectacles and slowly answered, "It said, 'Heere at the Wall'. Spelled with two E's." Riley groaned. "Why can't it just say,'go to this place here's the treasure spend it wisely'?" You suddenly had the weird sensation that you were being watched. Your eyes  locked with a blond-haired man from outside the window, who in response smiled a mean smile and fast walked almost out of sight. Riley glanced over just in time. "Ian!" He gasped. "Ben, look! He followed us here! How did he...?" Ben followed Riley's gaze. "Oh no." He murmured. "Ian has essentially unlimited resources and he's pretty smart. He's brought his entire gang. We can't get out of here without being spotted." Riley whimpered, "What do we do, then?" Ben sighed, and then responded, "We split up. We don't want them to have the Declaration or the glasses, but if they have both...That's what we really don't want. Abigail and I will take this and this..." Ben slung the empty Declaration case over his shoulder and picked up the glasses. "And (Y/n) and Riley will take the Declaration. Meet us at the car, and call me if you have any problems." Riley shuddered. "Like if we get caught and killed??" Ben nodded and his mouth quirked into a slight smile. "That would be a problem, wouldn't it?" The four of you walked out of the door silently, and as you parted ways, Ben called softly over his shoulder, "Be careful, okay?" Riley tensely smiled back and the two of you speed walked out of sight.