A/n - Ai. That's the last time I promise anything "soon-ish". I'm so sorry it took nearly three months to get this up and running, but it was seriously one of the most difficult things I've ever written. Three and a half rewrites later, I'm STILL not entirely happy with it, but frankly I can't figure out what I don't like and I figure it's as good as it's ever going to get. That being said, I seriously hope you enjoy the conclusion of this little two-shot!

Disclaimer - I don't own anything NT related. I do own Millennium Motherboards and the majority of its employees. Oh, and I failed to mention this in the last chapter, but the conversations Riley has with the callers were shamelessly pilfered from the genius www(dot)rinkworks(dot)com, under the "Computer Stupidities" tab (I believe from the "Tech Support" subcategory, but I honestly don't remember). I honestly don't know enough about computers to even pretend like I know what I'm talking about.

Ben was eating lunch when his phone rang. He rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair to fish his cell phone off the kitchen counter. It certainly stood to reason that the phone would ring as soon as he'd sat down to eat.

He didn't recognize the number, which meant it wasn't a member of the crew calling because they had uncovered the secret of Charlotte. By process of elimination, Ben deduced that the caller had to be Riley, informing him that his computer was fixed and he could pick it up. The kid really hadn't been kidding when he'd said the problem would only take a day to fix. Maybe the bad karma, or whatever it was, that had crashed his computer had finally let up. After all, the weather had cleared up overnight – it stood to reason that the weather and Ben's computer were irrevocably tied. The Weather Gods and Technology Gods were thick as thieves, as far as Ben was concerned.

"Hello?" Ben answered, his mouth full of turkey sandwich. There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.

""Hi, are you Ben… Ben Gales? It's Riley, from Millennium Motherboards," the kid chirped. Ben was a little surprised. Riley hadn't been kidding when he'd said the computer wouldn't take long to fix.

"It's Gates, Ben Gates," Ben corrected. His handwriting hadn't been that bad, had it?

"That's what I thought, but no, Colin had to think the T was an L and put a post-it on your laptop saying it belonged to a 'Mr. Ben Gales.' And you were the only computer we had for repairs; it wasn't like he had to identify which computer in our cabinet belonged to which customer. He says it's company policy, but I think it's bureaucratic nonsense. Then he goes on to say he doesn't trust us and that we would steal a nice computer and replace it with a worse one, which is stupid because there's only five of us and we've all worked here a while and we've all demonstrated that we're nice, honorable people.

"But anyway, you're computer's ready. I didn't have to wipe the hard drive or anything; it was an easy enough problem to fix, and you shouldn't have any difficulties with it later. I put anti-virus software of my own devising on it, so you should be more or less entirely safe from viruses. Just don't tell Colin about that if you see him; he's going to want to sell you Norton or something, but I figure it's cheaper to get an awesome computer guy and hacker to hook you up with virus software."

"So I can come pick up my computer now?" Ben asked. He had honestly forgotten how much the younger man loved to talk. He was certainly amused by Riley's ability to ramble about nothing, but he wanted to get his laptop back so he could do more research. While Ian and the rest of the men appreciated the small vacation brought about by the absence of Ben's computer, Ben was eager for the hunt to start again. He wanted all of his saved research back so he could review it and see if anything caught his eye. Maybe all it would take was a day off and a fresh look to find the breakthrough he so desperately sought.

"Oh, of course! I did say I fixed it, didn't I? Best Buy has nothing on me. I could hack rings around those Geek Squad guys!" Ben could hear Riley bursting with pride. "They wanted me to work for them, you know. But then I learned that I would have to wear their stupid uniforms. Can you picture me in a Best Buy uniform? I'd rather wear a Darth Vader mask to a Trekkie Con." While Ben wasn't entirely sure what a 'Trekkie Con' was, he knew he'd have to take Riley's short pause, in which he was probably contemplating the described scenario, and interrupted.

"So I'll see you in a few minutes then," Ben said, attempting to give his voice an air of finality. He needed to get his laptop back, and he wasn't going to get anywhere if Riley talked his ear off.

"Oh, OK. Bye!" To his credit, Riley didn't seem to mind being interrupted constantly. As Ben hung up the phone, he wondered if the young techie was used to that sort of thing. The way he could sustain a one-sided conversation was remarkable.

As Ben pulled the car out of the apartment parking lot and into the street, he was amazed at how the weather had changed from yesterday. Today, the Weather Gods were smiling. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was a crisp, clear blue with nary a cloud in sight. The only sign of yesterday's deluge was some strewn debris such as leaves and small branches and an overall dampness in the landscape.

Ben pulled his car into the same parking spot as yesterday, and noted that the lack of storm didn't make Millennium Motherboards look any less dilapidated. It still had a distinct hole-in-the-wall appearance. Ben fed the meter a coin or two – he wasn't going to risk getting a ticket again, not when the day was going so well – and headed into the store.

Again, the interior of the shop was dark and quiet, except for the distinct trill of Tetris music. Ben headed over to the cash register, which was again unmanned. He suspected that Riley was again seated behind the register, out of sight behind the counter.

Ben leaned over the counter and his eyes met with the top of Riley's head. Sure enough, the young techie was seated behind the counter playing Tetris on a laptop. Oddly, he was playing exclusively with his left hand, tapping the arrow keys in quick succession as the colored blocks on the computer screen danced about. Ben cleared his throat and Riley's head snapped up.

"Hi Ben," Riley grinned up at him. "You made good time. I wasn't expecting you for another half an hour at least." Ben just stared. The right side of the kid's face was bruised and scratched, as if he'd had a personal encounter with pavement. His right arm, or what Ben could see of it, was injured in the same way.

"What happened to you?" Ben asked, frowning in concern. Riley definitely was not in peak condition and Ben wondered if he was even fit to work. The fact that he was playing Tetris with his left hand told Ben that the injuries to the right arm were painful and hindered movement. Riley worked in a computer store, which probably entailed some heavy lifting of certain hardware pieces. How could he fulfill his duties if he was so injured?

"I had a small bike mishap yesterday. Nothing to worry about," Riley gave a smirk and hauled himself to his feet. It didn't escape Ben's notice that Riley favored his right leg as well, going so far as to avoid putting any weight on it. The magnitude of his concern startled Ben a bit. After all, he'd only met the kid yesterday, and it hadn't exactly been anything more than polite conversation between an employee and a customer. Yet the concern Ben felt went beyond that of one person being startled by the appearance of another – Ben wasn't just going to shake his head and think, that poor kid. He wanted to know what was wrong and if there was anything he could do to help.

"Are you sure?" Ben asked.

"Yup. I made it here, didn't I?" Riley gave a small grin. Perhaps the oddest part was that Riley wasn't talking about his so called 'bike mishap'. Anything else and Riley probably would've given his two cents and then some. But when it came to crashing a bike and injuring himself? Riley played it off as no big deal. Ben heaved a mental sigh. Maybe it was no big deal to this kid. For all Ben knew, Riley went dirt-biking during his time off and had accrued many similar injuries.

"I'm sure you want your baby back. Hold a second; I have to fish her from the Cabinet o' Doom. I wanted to call it the Death Star, since it fits in with the whole Star Wars theme, but Liam said that was stupid because the cabinet doesn't fire lasers or anything, so Rochelle gave it a temporary name that hasn't really been replaced yet. Maybe I could jury-rig a laser or something. That would certainly deter those potential computer thieves that Colin is always talking about. You'd think that if someone really wanted to steal computer technology, they'd hit a Best Buy, or at least something bigger than us. You could seriously hit the jackpot there. What would you get here? Some games and a repaired laptop with some random people's pictures on it. Great stuff," Riley kept a cadence of words as he hobbled to the cabinet. He continued to refrain from putting any weight on his right leg, and Ben spied a set of crutches leaning unobtrusively between two of the display cabinets behind the cash register. He tuned out Riley's tangent. It wasn't as if the deluge of words was annoying; in fact, Riley's voice had particular cadence that was both easy to listen to and easy to ignore, depending on the situation.

Riley fumbled with the keys and pulled the door a few times, which refused to open. He sighed and glanced back at Ben. "This is why we call it the Cabinet o' Doom. It never opens. No amount of WD-40 can make it work for us. We asked Colin to replace it, but he said it wasn't in the budget or something. I think he just wants us all to suffer."

"If you don't like him so much, why do you keep working here?" Ben asked. Riley seemed very put out with his manager; every single one of his tangents seemed to involve Colin in some way, shape or form.

"Could you picture me at Best Buy?" Riley paused in his attempts at opening the door to give Ben a very wry look. Ben certainly could picture Riley working at Best Buy – but he could also picture the garrulous kid being fired for talking so much. But Ben also knew that Riley had a very low opinion of the Geek Squad, and answering 'yes' would not be taken kindly.

"Of course not," Ben replied. Riley rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah you could," Ben was amazed that the techie could read him so well. But then again, Ian had said many times that Ben's poker face was abysmal. "But you were trying to be nice since you know I don't like Best Buy, and I approve of that."

As he said that, Riley gave the cabinet handle a final tug and the door finally swung open. Unfortunately, Riley was already unbalanced due to his injured right leg and he hadn't been prepared for the sudden release of the cabinet door. He fell over sideways, forced to put more weight on his wounded limb in order to keep from falling. He also failed to release the cabinet door, as if he could rely on it to regain his balance, and the top hinge ripped off with a crack. Even then he couldn't entirely save himself and he hit the side of the counter hard.

Riley, for his part, didn't notice the damage done to the furniture and slowly slid to the ground next to the counter, releasing the broken cabinet door in favor of his right ankle.

Ben, for his part, stared as the scene played out almost in slow motion. He hurried to the end of the counter and leaned over, inspecting what he could see of Riley, who was tucked up against the counter and hissing in pain.

"Are you alright?" Ben asked, starting to move around the counter so he could get a better look at the younger man.

"Ow ow ow," Riley whimpered, unmindful of Ben's inquiry. Realizing that Riley was definitely not alright, Ben went around the counter and knelt next to him.

"Let me see," Ben said quietly, trying to pull Riley's hands away from his ankle. Finally Riley seemed to realize that Ben was there.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, his eyes finally meeting Ben's. To Ben's surprise, Riley's eyes were not just pained. They were also filled with relief, hope, concern, suspicion and the smallest hints of anger and trust. Ben was slightly taken aback. It was an odd mix of emotion, to be sure. In fact, several of them conflicted with each other. Yet Riley moved his hands slightly so Ben could roll up his right pant leg and get a good look at whatever injury Riley had attempted to hide.

"I want to make sure you didn't hurt yourself further," Ben left no room for argument. All he wanted was to make sure the kid didn't need a quick drive to the hospital.

"I'm OK," Riley replied. He didn't let go of his ankle, even as Ben tried to get a better look at the jean-clad appendage. "Colin's going to kill me." That little statement gave Ben pause. He shot Riley an incredulous look.

"Why?"

"Because I broke the cabinet," Riley waved his arm vaguely in the direction of the damaged cabinet. I blinked a few times. Riley was obviously injured, and he was worried he'd get in trouble for a cabinet? It wouldn't even be hard to fix, it just needed a new screw.

"You're lucky you didn't break something more serious. What happened to you?" Ben asked again. Riley heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes. Ben could tell that Riley had come to the conclusion that it would be easier to just explain everything than to put up with Ben's constant inquiries.

"It was really wet outside yesterday. Did you know that bike tires have a tendency to lose traction on wet surfaces when one happens to be travelling at a high velocity and attempts to make a sharp turn? Gravity is a bitch. So is inertia, for that matter," Riley still had a look on his face that suggested he thought Ben's concern was unwarranted. Ben, for his part, winced in sympathy. While his forte was in American History, he wasn't exactly a slouch when it came to physics. He deciphered Riley's nonchalant answer to mean 'my bike skidded out and I slid on the pavement for a few feet'. It also explained Riley's mystery leg injury. If his leg had been caught under the bike chain, there was likely to be a very nasty wound on the inside of his calf.

"Did you get it checked out?" Ben asked. Riley huffed in amusement.

"It's just some scratches. Besides, how would I have gotten myself to the hospital? My bike was more or less out of commission," Riley pointed out.

"But you made it here,"

"There's this thing known as a 'public transit'. It's not pretty, but it's cheap and effective. And you can meet the most interesting people, though today there was this total creeper that stared at me the whole time. Oh, and some lady insisted that her cat ride on the seat next to her. I have never seen an angrier-looking cat, even taking into consideration the fact that all cats look at least mildly irritated at everything. I mean, this cat looked like it would kill me if I had an untoward though about it. Or if I even thought about having such a thought. Heck, it probably would've killed me if I hadn't gotten off at the stop after the woman got on the bus," Ben figured that Riley was probably feeling better since he was rambling again. At the very least he wasn't in as much pain.

"What the hell happened in here?" Riley was interrupted by someone other than Ben. Judging by the irate tone of voice and the fact that Riley flinched and looked markedly worried, Ben assumed that this was the infamous Colin. Riley flailed about a bit, obviously with the intent of hauling himself to his feet. Ben didn't give him a chance to attempt it on his own; he grabbed the younger man by the arm and pulled him to his feet, mindful of the obviously-injured right leg.

Ben's first impression of Colin was that the man was not exactly someone to be afraid of. Colin was short and thin, with thin brown hair. He was scowling at Riley and Ben, and his entire face was flushed in anger. In fact, the effect was almost comical. Colin wasn't exactly on par with Shaw on the intimidation meter. Riley, on the other hand, seemed very worried about Colin's wrath, but he slapped on a nervous smile anyway.

"Hey Colin, I see your teleconference got out a bit early," To Riley's credit, his voice didn't shake at all. In fact, he sounded downright blasé about the situation. But Ben could tell that the techie was distinctly nervous about how the scenario was going to play out.

"I'm glad it did. What goes on here when I'm not around? You have a customer behind the counter! I can't even tell you how many company policies that breaks!" Colin seethed. "And what the hell happened to the cabinet?"

"Colin, it was just an accident. I can get it fixed easily," Riley attempted. Colin, however, wasn't having any of it.

"So you weren't trying to destroy company property? You certainly complained enough times about that cabinet," Colin snorted in disbelief. Ben fought the urge to stare open-mouthed. Surely an employer would listen to what his workers had to say. Shouldn't Colin have taken into consideration Riley's multiple complaints about the malfunctioning piece of furniture?

"I told you it was sticky, but you never listen to me! It was bound to happen sooner or later! Or would you prefer that I didn't give the nice man his laptop back?" Ben blinked once or twice. Whatever reaction he'd been expecting from Riley, it certainly hadn't been irritation. Colin's face seemed to get even redder.

"Poole, I've had enough of you! Every day it's your complaining and your ridiculous suggestions and your pointless stories! Why everyone else seems to think you're funny is beyond me!" Colin growled. "And your blatant disregard for company policy is disrespectful and grounds for termination! I said before, you'd better shape up or ship out, and it seems you chose the latter option!"

"Oh, so you're firing me?" Riley snorted. Ben figured it was beyond time to intervene. The last thing he wanted was to cost the kid his job.

"It's not his fault," Ben tried to be conciliatory, as if he was trying to convince a member of the historical community that the Templar treasure was, in fact, real. It went about as well as ever. "You see, Riley was just trying to help me out when…"

"I don't care!" Colin turned on Ben, his eyes flashing. "I gave Poole an inch and he took a mile! If he hadn't been our best, I would've turned him out months ago! I gave him more chances than you know, and he keeps pulling off shenanigan after shenanigan. I've had enough! Poole, collect your things and go. I'll call in someone else to finish your shift; I'll do it myself if I have to. Just go, and don't come back!" Riley just sighed as Colin stormed out of the store and back into his office. He sagged visibly, and Ben was tempted to grab the kid in case he collapsed.

"I expect you to be gone when I come back out of this office!" Colin opened the door for a parting shot, then slammed it behind him once more. Riley leaned up against the counter.

"I guess I should've seen that one coming. Sorry you had to witness it," Riley gave Ben a shaky grin. Ben just shook his head. He hadn't noticed anything wrong with Riley that would've been grounds for termination. Riley was cheerful and helpful over the phone when it came to other customers, from what Ben had seen – it wasn't his fault that the callers from yesterday didn't take his suggestions into consideration. And he'd managed to put Ben's computer back together in the space of a day. He'd even come into work visibly injured. Yes, Riley had trouble shutting up, but it was more amusing than annoying, and he never seemed angry whenever someone interrupted him. The cabinet was obviously an accident.

"It's fine. Are you OK?" Ben asked. Riley stared at him.

"You're asking me that now?"

"You did just get fired."

"He's been threatening that for a while. Like I said, I should've seen it coming."

"I can't help but feel partially responsible," It was true. Ben was, after all, the customer behind the counter that apparently broke company policy. Riley just frowned a bit, obviously not blaming Ben in the least.

"He would've used any excuse to get rid of me by this point. You were just a means to an end. At least it was a real reason, not because I broke a stupid cabinet that I could fix with a screwdriver," Riley shrugged. "Do you still want your laptop back? I think it survived me destroying the cabinet." Honestly, the computer had been the furthest thing from Ben's mind since Riley had fallen, and he couldn't care less at the moment. He was more concerned with the well-being of a tech support guy that he'd met yesterday. In any other situation, Ben would've found it bizarre that he cared so much. But Riley was just too friendly to brush off and forget about easily. His tendency to ramble was amusing and his computer skills were obviously unparalleled.

Ben suddenly wondered if there was space on his crew for a young techie.

"Here's your computer. I put my own virus software on it so you don't have to pay for any of that nonsense. Mine probably works better, too," Somehow, while Ben was thinking, Riley had slipped away and hobbled to the cabinet. He returned with Ben's laptop in hand. "You can start it up if you want, make sure that everything is where it's supposed to be. I hope you don't mind I took a quick peek at one or two of your files. I mean, who wouldn't be able to resist a folder labeled 'Treasure'?"

"You looked at that?" Ben asked. It was almost as if Riley had sensed the potential invitation to join the Templar Expedition and had decided to reveal the fact that he'd looked at Ben's files. Maybe the Technology Gods were trying to make up for the computer crash by offering Ben a computer whiz to make the technological aspects of the treasure hunt run much more smoothly. It was as good an explanation as any.

"Was I not supposed to?" Riley seemed faintly worried. Apparently the 'violation of privacy' idea had crossed his mind. In any other situation, Ben would've been quite annoyed at the idea of someone reading his computer files. In this case, he was more curious than anything else. How had Riley reacted to the notion that the Founding Fathers were embroiled in a Templar conspiracy?

"Technically no, but since you did…" Ben trailed off. "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Riley echoed. He paused for a moment. "I think it's awesome. I mean, a thousand-year-old treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers, the only clue a cryptic piece of paper? It sounds like an awesome movie." Ben was relieved. At least there was someone out there that didn't think he was absolutely nuts. Of course that one person would have to be a techie who likened him to some sort of movie hero.

"Do you want to help?" Ben asked. Riley's eyes widened.

"Are you kidding?" Riley was vibrating with barely-contained excitement. Ben figured that had Riley been uninjured, he would've been hopping around the store. "Of course I'd love to help! First order of business is to organize your entire computer – I can't figure out how you can locate any of your data, it wasn't organized in any way I could figure out. Where's your headquarters? Can I meet you there? Do you have a team?"

"I…" Ben wasn't entirely sure how to respond to Riley's enthusiasm. It rivaled Ben's fascination with the treasure, but in a much more overt and exuberant manner. "We usually meet at my apartment. Yes, you can meet me there, I'll give you the address. And I do have a team."

"Can I meet them? Are they awesome? You don't already have a computer guy, do you? Do you have code names?" Ben began to wonder if he would come to regret having Riley.

"Yes, I suppose, no, no," Ben tried to intervene before there were more questions fired in his direction. He grabbed a piece of paper off the counter and scribbled his phone number and address down on it, along with the usual time that the crew met. Ben was planning on giving them all a heads up about the new addition to the team. He'd definitely have to warn Ian, who probably would not take too kindly to the excitable personality of the techie, never mind his tendency to ramble.

"Thank you so much, Ben!" Riley beamed at him, and Ben immediately forgot all his potential regrets. There would be no harm in having a computer whiz-kid. In fact, if he was able to get all the data straight then he would already be worth it. "I'll even bring chips or something. For the meeting, I mean."

"You'll be able to get there, right?" Ben suddenly realized that the kid no longer was in possession of his bike. In fact, he was injured.

"Oh of course. I have a car," Riley snorted. Ben blinked.

"Then why didn't you just drive today?"

"I'm not paying for gas just to go to work. I also have an extensive computer setup in the back of my van. I'd be too tempted to sneak out whenever business was slow – and it's always slow," Riley grinned. "I should probably get going. I mean, there's not much more Colin can do to me now, since he already fired me, but I don't want him to coerce me into fixing the cabinet or something."

"Good point," Ben agreed. "How much do I owe you for this?" He gestured to the computer.

"Consider it on the house," Riley shrugged. "I don't actually work here anymore, so it's not my problem." Ben just shook his head.

As they were leaving the store – Riley explained that he didn't actually have any belongings there, so there was no point in going to the back room – Ben realized that Riley still didn't have a way of getting home. His limp wasn't getting any better, either, though he tried his best to disguise the fact that he was injured. So Ben took it upon himself to make sure the computer tech got home safely, even if he thereby consigned himself to sitting in a car with a very talkative Riley Poole.

But in all honesty, Ben didn't mind. He liked the kid; he was smart and funny, and Ben figured he'd bring a sort of youthful exuberance that was missing on the team. It was interesting how a broken computer had lead Ben to finding a new member for the Templar Expedition. Maybe Ben's technological karma wasn't entirely as bad as he'd previously believed it to be.

Riley didn't seem to care that he was sitting in a car with a man he barely knew. In fact, he was downright thrilled about it. He chatted, not entirely caring whether Ben was paying attention or not. In fact he was talking more for the sake of talking over anything else. "It's awesome that you're driving me home. I mean, I never would've asked. That would be awkward. But I swear, if that cat lady was on the bus again I would've freaked out. I've dealt with some mean cats before, but her cat was the spawn of Satan or something. I always thought Liam's cat was evil, but the bus lady had a legitimately demonic cat. Liam's a guy I work with – or used to work with, as it were. He was Chewbacca, in case you're wondering. I'm going to kind of miss having people confusedly refer to me as Han Solo. I mean, Harrison Ford is awesome. I will be fulfilled in life if I can be half that awesome. Hey, will this treasure hunt be anything like an Indiana Jones movie? Well, anything like the first and last movie, the second one kind of sucked. The blonde chick in the second one was ridiculously annoying, and…"

"Riley," Ben said, attempting to keep the small, amused smile from playing about his lips, "shush."

There you have it, the awesome conclusion. I hope you liked it!
I have at least one or two more pre-NT short stories planned, but I can't make any promises about what they are about or when they might be posted. I'm afraid I'm a horrible procrastinator and perfectionist, and frankly the two traits don't coexist very peaceably.
At any rate, I hope you enjoyed the story -- please leave a kind word on your way out!
Until next time!

~Craic