A/N: I just saw National Treasure: Book of Secrets. It was very good, probably as good as the first, but for some reason a little of the charm of the original was lost. And Ian was a better villain than Wilkinson. So I got home and decided to write this. If you haven't seen the second movie, I wouldn't read any more unless you don't mind spoilers. If you have, this is Riley's thoughts sometime after his scene at the bookstore near the beginning of the film. My first official National Treasure fanfic, but I do have a multi-chap I'm planning on posting soon!
Disclaimer: I don't own it, because if I did, Riley would get the spotlight.
Shadow
Another newspaper. Another photo of Ben. Once again, no mention of me. Why would there be? Who wants to hear about the "assistant"? Right. No one.
Another hour, and still nobody wants to buy my book. Someone else asks if I'm Benjamin Gates, and when I say no, they lose interest immediately.
My Ferrari got towed, and the interest rates are incredible. Whatever happened to that "half of one percent" I got from the Templar treasure?
Suddenly, I don't feel powerful or rich or important. I'm almost invisible, a shadow of someone everyone loves, someone who keeps getting in the paper, someone whose family is widely known.
I'm just Riley Poole. There's nothing special about me. I'm actually small…blue eyes, dark, usually messy hair. Reading glasses. The only thing I'm good with is computers. And let's face it, being a computer whiz just doesn't get much appreciation in this world. Ben told me he couldn't have done it all without me. Not to be stuck-up or anything, but he's right.
So…if he couldn't have done it without me, how come he's famous and I'm not doing so well in that department?
Because he figured out all the clues? Yeah…except that one clue that led us to Ben Franklin's glasses. But does anyone remember how we got the glasses, and that without them we wouldn't have figured out the whole "Heere at the Wall" thing? No. They only admire the fact that Ben and Abigail knew what that clue meant.
Fine. Whatever. Give all the credit to the history geeks and none to the behind-the-scenes guy. I've gotten used to it. Have fun. Enjoy your spoils.
Don't worry about me. Someday, maybe I will get recognition. Maybe I won't be mistaken for someone I'm not. Sure. That's gonna happen. You know what I need?
Another treasure that redefines mankind.
…That's not going to happen, either.
A/N: I know it was short, but it was just meant to be a little drabble in honor of the new movie. Review?