A/N: Christ on a tricycle, I'm not dead! It's been what? Ten months? I'm soooooo sorry! Also, I had to reread this entire story from the beginning so I remembered where the hecksters I was going with it, and I want to apologize for all the little mistakes I caught here and there, lol. One of these days I may go back and fix things in all those old chapters, but not until the story is done! ...And I hope there aren't too many in this chapter, either, 'cause this is coming at you not beta'd. Sorry in advance for anything I missed! Feel free to point anything out in the reviews. :)

Part 42

"This is so great," Riley says, a huge grin on his face as limps along the wooden pathway through the bog, leaning on Ben to help keep some of the weight off his bad knee. "What are the odds that our rock would be within sight of one of these convenient walkways? Probably like one in a hundred. I'd have to calculate the actual area of the park and divide it by how many paths were actually built, and then-"

"Riley, shut up," Joseph mumbles.

"I'm just trying to share my good mood," Riley continues, unfazed by the bigger man's tone. "New clothes, no germ-infested bandages that'll make my arm rot off, a fresh wad of cotton keeping me from hearing half of the big guy's threats, I don't smell like I haven't showered in five millennia, and it turns out that even though Brown's Lake Bog has virtually no information online that would be remotely helpful, this'll probably be our easiest find. What's not to be happy about?"

Bobbi looks at him in disbelief. "Why don't you try: being forced to walk several miles through a swamp in the middle of nowhere, Ohio at gunpoint by a group of terrorists?"

Riley glances at her over his shoulder. "Silver lining. I was going for…nevermind. Why am I always surrounded by such negative people? Except you, Ben. You can find a silver lining from inside a void in the universe, which technically would be impossible, but that only makes my point-"

Ben cuts him off. "Thank you, Riley, I understood the compliment. How far until we reach this rock, again?"

Evan calls back from the front of the line, map in hand. "Only about twenty more minutes, amigos, then some lucky devil's going swimming."

"What, not volunteering this time, Mr. Thrillseeker?" Victor teases.

Vigorously shaking his head, Evan responds with, "No, dude, no way. That water's cold as balls and I don't have my wet suit. I did the last two, it's someone else's turn."

"Well I'm certainly not doing it," Elizabeth says.

"Me either," Riley shoots out. "I can't really lead the way to the lost colony if I die of hypothermia. Just saying."

Ben sighs. "I'll do it." At their surprised looks, he merely shrugs one shoulder as his lips pull up in a half grin. "If the next one winds up being harder, I can say I already took my turn."

Riley nods in appreciation. "That is sound Riley logic, right there. I'm proud of you, Ben, you're learning."

"Learning they were going to make one of us do it, anyway," Ben murmurs. "Honestly, I just didn't want to hear them argue about it."

Riley relents with a tilt of his head. "Yeah, they are pretty much the most dysfunctional family of bad guys that's ever kidnapped us, aren't they?" He looks up, catching the angry glares from Victor and Joseph. "That was a stage whisper, wasn't it? I did mention new, shiny cotton ball messing with my hearing, right? Volume control kind of…" Everyone glares at him, now. "'Shut up, Riley.' Got it."

They walk in blessed silence until the trees spread out into a clearing to the left side of the wooden bridge spanning the swamp. Evan stops and points out across the thick blanket of floating leaves. "Is that your rock?"

Riley shrugs. "I haven't seen any other random boulder floating in the middle of the woods, have you?"

Abigail squints out across the waters. "Should there be a flower?"

Riley shakes his head. "Nope, there can't be because Rabbit ran off with it, remember?"

"It could've grown back," Bobbi points out.

"Don't question the legend," Riley says, then pushes himself away from Ben's supportive grip. "You sure you want to do this?"

"No, but I don't really have a choice" He smiles over at Riley and Abigail. "At least there's dry clothes waiting for me in the truck, right?"

"And," Evan says with a smile as he pulls his pack around to the front, zipping it open slightly to reveal what's inside, "I thought ahead. Got you a nice, warm towel."

"Oh, how thoughtful," Elizabeth says warmly. Her tone darkens as she turns her attention to Ben. "Well, get on with it."

Ben reaches out his hand. "The carving."

She fishes it out of her pocket and places it gently in Ben's palm, and waits impatiently as he sheds off his shirt, shoes, and socks. Taking one preparatory breath, Ben focuses on the rock and steps off the bridge. The water that splashes up around his waist sprays everyone on the path, causing them all to jump back in alarm.

"Wow, that's cold," Riley states. "You should probably hurry, Ben."

"You think?" Ben shoots back through clenched teeth, already starting to shiver as he trudges through the icy water.

"Watch your footing," Riley calls to him, trying to be helpful. "You don't want to get caught off guard by the drop-off Cro stepped into."

"Thank you, Riley, I remember," Ben says a little more irritably, hissing as the water climbs up to his chest. He places his feet carefully, feeling around for a solid purchase on the slick mud underneath, hoping to avoid plunging all the way under when he isn't ready for it. When he's only around ten feet away from the rock he finds his foot hovering over nothing, and holds his breath as he pushes off the ground in order to swim. It's a struggle not to gasp in the frigid water as it wraps around his shoulders, and his arms already begin to feel sluggish as he pulls himself towards his destination.

"Almost there, Ben!" Riley shouts.

He chooses not to answer, instead just keeping his head above water and his eyes locked on his target. When his hand reaches out to grip the rock, he hauls himself onto it as much as he can in frantic desperation, flopping down into the warm sunlight streaming through the branches above. His body quakes with violent shivers as it tries to warm up his system, and it's all he can do not to allow his teeth to rattle out of his head.

"Ben? Are you okay?" Abigail calls, her voice thick with worry.

Closing his eyes for a second to gather strength, he holds up a shaking hand and waves it at her. Pushing himself up on one elbow he inspects the surface of the rock, frowning at the layer of green covering everything above the water line. With numb fingers, he struggles to pull the vegetation away until finally he sees the outline of the small horse etched into the stone. Heaving a sigh of relief, he presses the horse figurine into it, and…

Nothing happens. Frowning, he clears more of the moss away from the crack where the trap door should turn and tries to help the box roll over like it should.

"Um, guys, we have a problem," he says as loudly as he can, his voice broken by his shivers. "The box won't turn."

Riley's jaw drops open for a second. "I jinxed it. I know better. You say something's too easy, it'll turn not easy. Happens every time. Why would I say that?"

"Shut up, Riley," Elizabeth snaps before turning back to Ben. "Do you know what's blocking it?"

"I think the moss grew down into the stone, stopping up the axles," he responds as he continues to poke and prod at the edges of the box. "I need something long and sharp to clear it out of the cracks."

Riley looks down at his arm, over at Elizabeth's head, then quickly snatches the blade out of her hair. Joseph is on him in a second, throwing him down to the boardwalk and tearing the weapon from Riley's grip as Evan puts himself between Elizabeth and the potential danger. Victor stands over the two of them pointing his gun down at the computer tech's head.

"Whoa, whoa!" Abigail shouts. "It was for Ben, for Ben to clear the moss! That's it!"

"Right," Riley pants from beneath Joseph's weight. "Probably should've spelled out the plan, there. My bad."

"Let him up, Joseph," Elizabeth says curtly, then sneers down at Riley as Abigail helps him get back to his feet. "For someone so smart, you can be incredibly dense sometimes. You're lucky they didn't kill you."

"Sorry, just got caught up in the moment," Riley mumbles. He points at the thin blade still in Joseph's clenched fist. "But it's perfect, right? We just have to figure out a way to get it to Ben."

She studies it for a second, then looks over at Ben's slightly expectant, slightly concerned face. "Victor, bring it to him."

"What? Me? Why?" he asks, astonished. "Evan's the big swimmer."

She turns her angry glare on him. "Because he's right, he shouldn't have to do another one, and you know how Joseph is about water."

"But, if we're going to be handing Ben a weapon, shouldn't I be over here pointing a gun at his head?"

Joseph shoots Victor a small grin. "Which one of us is SWAT again?"

"He's got ya there, buddy," Evan laughs.

"Well I don't see him carrying his super sniper rifle," Victor argues. "All we have are the handguns, and I'm a better, faster shot with those."

Elizabeth, fed up, snags the blade from Joseph's hand and shoves it into Victor's. "Go, Victor, this is not up for debate."

Pressing his lips together for a second, Victor huffs out a frustrated breath and begins to strip down. "This is so not fair," he complains. "Should just send another one of them to do it."

"Right, and why don't we just hand them one of your guns while we're at it?" Evan quips. "Real smart thinking, Vikki."

"Shut up," Victor snaps just before he jumps into the water, making certain to splash the water back in Evan's direction.

Bobbi watches the whole argument with a speculative look, one that Abigail catches. Abby cocks a questioning eyebrow at her, to which Bobbi just shakes her head and mouths the word, "Later." Nodding, Abby then turns her attention back to Riley.

"Are you hurt?"

"Is that a trick question?" he asks, keeping his eyes glued on Victor and Ben.

She sighs, seeing the way he's keeping the weight off his bad leg, and moves beside him, pulling one of his arms over his shoulder. He accepts the aide without argument, and both of them keep a wary eye on the happenings across the bog, showing outward concern that Victor - alone with Ben and holding a weapon - might take his frustrations out on an easier target when no one will be there to stop him.