I have a confession to make. I did something that I promised myself I would never do...

I started working on two fanfictions at the same time! Phew, got that off my chest! Anyway, I've been working on a Batman Begins/Dark Knight fanfiction, but I hit a nasty writer's block, and ideas were popping into my head for this one. So I took a break from that one and started this story. Rest assured, the Batman one will get finished seeing as I've gotten over my writer's block and ideas are flying into my head left and right!

A fair warning, this does start off pretty boring, but I promise you I've added lots of fluff between Riley and my OC and the action really starts to pick up after a couple chapters. I only ask that you read more than the first chapter!

Okay! Enough with the boring author's note! On to the story!

Abigail Chase's day started off like any other. She arrived at the National Archives, said hello to her assistant, and went to her office to begin her work.

But that was also the day everything that she ever knew was going to change.

"Miss Chase?" her assistant said as she poked her head through the door. "There's someone here to see you."

"Send them in," she replied.

She began working on an article that was to be published soon when she heard the door open. "How can I help you?" she asked without looking up.

"Hi, Abby."

Abigail's head whipped up at the sound of the familiar voice and familiar nickname. "Sierra?"

The brown-haired girl smiled at her blonde friend. Abigail got up from her chair and rushed over to her to pull her into a tight hug.

"It's good to see you again," Sierra said.

"Where have you been? What have you been doing?"

"I'm a nurse at a hospital in Portland."

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I took off for a couple weeks. My shifts have been crazy and everyone knew I needed a break. My boss actually recommended I take off for a while and I happily agreed. So I decided to use the time to see you."

Abigail hugged her again. "It's been far too long."

"I know. I'm sorry. I should've kept in touch."

"No, I don't blame you. I should've kept in touch too. But after we both graduated from college and found different jobs, it just kept getting harder and harder."

"It didn't help when I had to move almost all the way across the country. But Dad had his job to worry about, and I had no choice."

Abigail's assistant popped her head in again. "Sorry to interrupt, Miss Chase, but there's a couple of gentlemen here who need to see you. They say it's urgent."

"Alright, just give me a few minutes." She nodded and closed the door just as the phone rang. Abigail went over and sat down at her desk and answered it. She conversed with the other person while Sierra waited for her to finish.

"Hey," she said to Sierra as she put the phone on her chest. "Do you want to sit in on this next meeting? Maybe see how the job works?"

Sierra smiled. "I would love to."

Abigail smiled back and finished her conversation just as the two men walked in. She met eyes with the younger one, who was admittedly really cute. She awkwardly smiled before looking away. Abigail finished her phone call and stood up.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," she said as she went over to them to shake their hands. "Abigail Chase."

"Paul Brown," the older one said.

"Nice to meet you."

"Bill," the younger, cute one said.

"Nice to meet you, Bill. This is my very good friend, Sierra McClure."

Sierra went over to the three of them and shook hands with the two gentlemen. She could notice Bill subtly trying to check her out. She smiled at him, hoping it would get him to stop.

"How may I help you?" Abigail asked politely.

"Your accent!" Paul exclaimed. "Pennsylvania Dutch?"

"Saxony German," she smiled.

"Oh!"

"You're not American?" Bill asked.

"Oh, I am an American, I just wasn't born here. Please don't touch that!"

Paul was caught off-guard and jumped a bit. "Sorry," he said. "A neat collection! George Washington's campaign buttons! You're missing the 1789 inaugural, though. I found one once."

"That's very fortunate for you."

Sierra was smart enough to know that he was very discreetly flirting with her. She took a seat in the chair next to Abigail's desk while the two gentlemen seated themselves in front.

"Now you told my assistant that this was an urgent matter?"

"Ah, yes, ma'am! Well, I'm gonna get straight to the point."

Abigail gave him her full attention as did Sierra.

"Someone's going to steal the Declaration of Independence."

The silence in the room was utterly deafening. One could've heard a feather fall to the floor. If this is what the job was usually like, Sierra was ready to sign up right here and now.

"It's true," Bill added, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"I think I'd better put you gentlemen in touch with the FBI," Abigail said as she picked up the phone.

"We've been to the FBI," Paul said.

"And?"

"They assured us that the Declaration cannot possibly be stolen," Bill told them.

"They're right."

"My friend and I are less certain," Paul said. "However, if we were given the privilege of examining the document, we would be able to tell you for certain if it were actually in any danger."

"What do you think you're gonna find?"Abigail asked as she leaned back in her chair.

Paul spoke in broken speech, like he was trying to pick his words really carefully. "We believe that there's an…encryption on the back."

"An encryption, like a code?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Of what?"

"Uh…a cartograph."

"A map?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"A map of what?"

Sierra had never been so fascinated by a conversation about history. In fact, she had always hated her history classes. She found them boring and more than once she had dozed off during the lecture. But now, this was something totally different. And she became even more interested by what Paul said next.

"The location of…" He cleared his throat nervously, choosing his next words with caution. "…of items of historic and intrinsic value."

"A treasure map?"

"That's where we lost the FBI," Bill said.

"You're treasure hunters, aren't you?"

"We're more like treasure protectors," Paul said, which made Sierra smile.

"Mr. Brown, I have personally seen the back of the Declaration of Independence, and I promise you the only thing there is a notation that reads, 'Original Declaration of Independence dated…'"

"4 of July, 1776," Paul finished. "Yes, ma'am."

"But no map."

There was a period of another uncomfortable silence. Sierra noticed Bill close his eyes and shake his head, signaling for Paul to not say what it was obvious he was going to say.

"It's invisible," Paul finally said.

"Oh…right," Abigail nodded, her tone suggesting she did not believe him in the slightest.

"That's where we lost the Department of Homeland Security," Bill said.

"Hang on, Abby," Sierra said as she held her hand out, her interest piqued. She looked at the two gentlemen. "What makes you so sure there's a map on the back? Especially if there's proof that there's nothing there?"

"We found an engraving on the stem of a 200-year-old pipe," Paul answered.

"Owned by Freemasons," Bill added.

"May I see the pipe?" Abigail asked.

"We don't…have it."

"Did Bigfoot take it?"

"Abby…" Sierra muttered.

"It was nice meeting you," Paul said as he stood up.

"It was nice to meet you too."

"And you know that is a really nice collection. Must've taken you a long time to hunt down all that history."

Abigail smiled at him as they left her office.

Sierra watched as Bill turned back around and gave her a nerdy, awkward smile before Paul pulled him away.

"Whoa," Sierra breathed. "Does stuff like this usually happen?"

"No. You picked a day when the most interesting, yet absurd thing happened in my office. Normally, I just get little teens who think they can get a job here."

"Paul was totally flirting with you."

"No, he was not."

"Yes, he was. You've had that collection since we were kids. Everyone said you were crazy for trying to find things like that. He was the first to ever actually admire it."

"What about Bill? I could see the way he was looking at you."

"Unfortunately, I could too. I'll admit he was cute, but the whole staring at me thing was freaking me out."

Abigail laughed. "Look, I've got some business to take care of, but you can stop by tomorrow for a while and we can go grab lunch. Oh, and there's a Gala going on this weekend. If you don't have anything going on, I'm allowed to have a plus one!"

"I'd love to go!"

"Alright, well, I will see you tomorrow then!"

"Abby?" Sierra said as she poked her head through the door.

"Come in," she called as she saw her friend. Sierra saw that her personal assistant was sitting across from her. "Apparently, I just got something. I hope it's not from Stan."

"Stan?"

"He's this guy I work with who has been hitting on me for weeks." She opened the card and read it aloud. "'For the woman who has everything else. Thanks for listening. Paul Brown.'"

Her assistant gave her an awkward look, while Sierra just smiled. She had been right.

Abigail opened up the box to find the last button she needed for her collection. "No way," she whispered.

Sierra laughed. "Told you he was flirting with you."

Her phone rang after she had added the button to her collection. "Abigail Chase," she said into the receiver. "Okay, I'll be right there." She turned to Sierra. "There's been a problem with one of the displays. I just have to go sort it out for a minute, then I'll be right back and we can go get something to eat."

"That's fine. Take your time," Sierra answered.

After some time, Abigail finally returned to her office.

"What happened?" Sierra asked.

"The heat sensors went off on the Declaration of Independence display. They're running tests, then changing the case."

"The Declaration seems to be full of surprises lately." There was a pause before she added, "Do you really think someone's going to steal it?"

"I don't think it's possible. That document is more protected than anything else. I think those two men were just being paranoid."

"If you say so. You're the expert." She still wasn't fully convinced that those men were lying.

It was really weird having to refer to them as Paul and Bill. We all know that is not their real names :)