-I do not own Indiana Jones, or any of Lucas' characters. This was written purely for amusement-
Based on Raiders of the Lost Ark, this is Indy and Marion's story, which better explains what she means when she is talking about her "being a child," and the reason why there is so much tension between them in the 1st Indy movie.
University of Chicago, 1926
Henry Jones Jr., better known by his friends as Indiana, walked down the great hallway, admiring the paintings and tapestries along the high walls. He had not been in this part of the building, and felt honoured his professor would want to speak with him personally. A young man in his early twenties, Indiana was just realizing his interest in archaic finds and mythological paraphernalia. His professor was a man named Abner Ravenwood, who devoted his entire life to archeology. Indy admired him intensely, and planned on being much the same when he reached his middle age. He attended every one of Ravenwood's classes, unlike the rest of his classes, which he notoriously ditched and failed in because of his lack of interest in the subjects.
Usually called in by teachers to be scolded, it was rare for a teacher to actually want his company for chit chat that didn't involve threats from the dean. Indy smiled at himself as he remembered the time he released the entire tank of live frogs from the biology lab, or the time he used the epoxy on the professor's chair in chemistry. He meant no harm really, but found sometimes college life was mundane and boring, and found ways to excite it.
He was still smiling to himself as he reached Abner's office, which was more set up like a laboratory really, with ancient scrolls, pottery, fossils and other assortments laid out along the wood counters. Bright lights shone upon the display, and a balding man with thin white hairs pulled across his scalp hovered over the antiquities. Indy knocked gently on the doorframe. The man looked up, a pair of magnifying glasses propped on his nose and a scalpel in his hand.
"Oh! Henry! Come on in, my boy!" Abner said, smiling and setting down the tool.
Indy entered slowly, suddenly very intimidated by all the old relics around him.
Abner sensed his unease, and laughed. "They may be old, boy, but they wont bite," he took off his glasses. "Sit!"
Indy sat on a stool next to the desk. Next to him were a pair of fangs and some talons from an ancient creature no longer in existence. Indy looked at the primordial thing with interest, thinking of all the nasty tricks he could play with it.
Abner followed his gaze, and read his mind. "This is from one of the oldest species of bird, very rare. A good friend of mine mailed me a parcel and this was in it. His idea of a joke, I suppose." Abner chuckled. "But the joke should stay in this room, Henry." He looked down at Indy like a father looks at a misbehaving son. His frown faded though, and he patted Indy on the shoulder.
Indy smiled, "Yes sir."
"Anyway, Henry," started Abner. "I didn't invite you down here to talk about old birds. I have something else entirely to show you."
He stood, walking across the lab to a sealed case. He took out a hammer and began to pry open the lid. Indy got up and helped him, pulling back on the old, creaking wood. The lid finally came off, whining in protest and sending dust into the air. A musty smell came from inside, and Indy could see something shining within. Abner's eyes glowed as he reached into the case and scooped out a handful of paper packaging. He tossed the paper onto the floor and dug deeper, until he found the object within. Indy watched with wide eyes as Abner withdrew a large, circular pendant of some kind. Abner raised it to the light, holding it with is thumb and forefinger.
The pendant was gold, and had a crystal in the centre. The light filtered through it and sparkled on the far wall, and Indy forgot to breathe. He had seen plenty of old relics, but nothing this… elegant.
Abner laughed at his reaction. "Yes, Henry… Quite the piece isn't it?"
Indy, speechless, could only stare wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
"I found it on one of my recent digs," Abner continued. "Priceless."
"W-What is it?" Asked Indy finally finding his voice.
Abner lowered it, cradling it in his hands before finally letting Indy hold it. "It's an amulet. However, I have been researching since its find, and I happen to believe it to be one of the headpieces to the staff of the Pharos. Maybe Moses, maybe something entirely different. I haven't figured it out really, but it is my greatest find to date."
Indy held the piece, surprised at it's weight. The crystal in the centre winked at him and he traced his fingers along sculpted wings. It was beautiful.
Abner let him hold it a bit longer, before taking it gently and rewrapping it in cloth and placing it in the box. "I thought you'd fancy that," he said. "Takes a real master of archeology to see the difference between history and money. There are those who would sell this. Men would kill for it's value. But I know that you are like me in the sense that you would rather see it in a museum."
Indy nodded, though he questioned if this is how he felt. He had seen money when he first held the piece, he had to admit. He knew it was wrong, and went against everything Abner, his idol, believed. Cursing himself for seeing it that way, he promised that if he ever did get a career in archeology, the history would come first.
Abner continued tinkering around with bits and pieces, while Indy sat on the stool and asked many questions. Abner let him scour a stone that may have had runes carved into it's face. Indy cracked through the outer crust of dirt, and the rest of the rock. He apologized to Abner, but Abner simply smiled and said, "Failure leads to success."
A little after five, Abner was cleaning up at the sink when there was a soft knock on the door. Indy looked up as it opened and a girl came through. She looked at Indy with wide eyes and nodded, then walked towards Abner.
"Daddy?" She said quietly as to not startle him.
Abner turned from the sink and smiled, "Marion! Is it that time already?" He dried his hands and looked at the clock.
The girl smiled and hugged her father, "Have you finished your classes for today?" He asked her. She nodded. He turned to Indy then, holding the girl's shoulders. "Henry, this is my daughter Marion."
Indy stood to be polite, and wiped his dirty hands on a cloth. He extended a half-cleaned hand and the girl shook it. She was young, but not too far from his own age. Indy guessed she must still be in her teens. She had long brown curls and a freckled face. But this was not what caught his eye. Her blue eyes sparkled as she looked at him, and he found his mouth starting to smile. She was very pretty. She wore a white blouse and a blue skirt, and carried a book bag on her shoulder. Indy wondered if she attended the University, unaware that Abner even had a daughter. Trying not to stare, he looked towards the floor.
"She always walks me home," Abner said proudly, putting an arm around her shoulder. Marion smiled, which made Indy blush and smile against his will. What was wrong with him? She must still be a child. As if Abner knew what he was wondering, he continued, "She attends Lake High… eleventh grade. About to graduate, too, if she keeps her grades up," Abner looked sternly at Marion, and she averted her gaze from Indy. Indy was counting in his head. Eleventh grade, which had to make her… sixteen? He was tempted to ask, but did not. Abner could not know he was attracted to his teenaged daughter.
"Well! I'll let the two of you socialize for a minute while I get my things together," Abner said. "Henry, you going to be here a while longer?"
Indy felt his heart leap. "You'd let me be in here by myself, sir?"
Abner smiled. "No, not really. Just wanted to see your reaction, my boy." He laughed heartily. Indy looked away from Marion, who smiled at him.
They stood awkwardly for a few minutes, both pretending to be rubbing smudges off the floor with their feet. Indy stole a couple of looks at the girl, but she always seemed to look up. Abner hummed to himself and gathered his belongings. Abner was not what you would call 'organized,' so getting his things together mostly consisted of stuffing some papers into a briefcase and throwing on his overcoat. He began to dig through his vest pockets, then looked around the counter.
"Where the dickens…?" He continued looking around.
"What are you looking for sir?" Asked Indy, his voice drawing Marion's attention to him and making him blush.
"Oh, I seem to have misplaced my keys," Abner said, tsking himself. "I bet I've left them in the classroom desk drawer. Oh, bother. I'll have to go back upstairs and get them."
Indy and Marion looked at each other as Abner set down his briefcase and started towards the door. "You two stay here and watch over the finery, I wont be but a minute."
With that, he left, closing the door behind him. Indy turned slowly, looking at Marion and shrugging. They both smiled and scoffed lightly.
"My father's always loosing things," Marion said. Her voice was smooth and soft. Indy had not heard he speak much until now, and found himself drawn even to her voice.
"Yeah, he's like that in class too," Indy said.
She smiled and lifted herself up onto the counter. "So what are you studying?"
Indy sat on the stool next to her and shrugged, "Uh, besides archeology… not much."
She laughed. "That's how I've been. I just don't like certain subjects."
"How old are you?" Indy finally asked, his heat pounding.
"Seventeen," she said. "But I feel a lot older sometimes living with Abner."
Indy laughed lightly. Seventeen was not that far from his twenty-two, but she might find it so.
"How old are you Henry?" She asked, taking a cigarette out of her book bag and lighting it.
"Uh, twenty-two," he said, clasping his hands. She nodded and passed him the cigarette. He looked at it apprehensively. He has smoked once or twice, but didn't like it much. But to be polite, he accepted. He pretended to be an expert smoker, and held back the burning cough in this lungs. He handed her back the cigarette.
"Does your father really let you smoke?" He asked, realizing that she was doing it specifically while he was gone.
"No," she said frowning. "He thinks I'm a bit young. But he does it and all of my friends do it …" She shrugged. "I don't do it that often."
They sat in silence then, neither knowing what to say. They looked at each other occasionally, then smiling, laughing and averting their eyes.
"You're pretty handsome, Henry Jones," she said. "You have a girlfriend?"
Her words made him smile and his ears burned. He laughed. "No," he had to stand to shake off his embarrassment. "I mean, not serious…"
She laughed along, putting out the cigarette and swinging her legs as she sat on the counter. "Me either. A boyfriend I mean. Boys make me angry."
Indy smiled to himself, where she couldn't see, completely understanding why teenage boys would not be appealing. Their immaturity certainly repelled women, he knew this from experience.
"You can call me Indiana," He said turning. "That's what everyone calls me. Henry was my father's name, but I don't go by it personally."
"Oh?" Marion smiled. "Henry by birth, Indiana by reputation?"
He nodded, standing with his hands in his pockets and his head down. Marion looked towards the door. "Wonder what's taking him so long?"
"The third floor is quite a ways up there," Indy offered. "And he probably has to dig through a lot of junk to find those keys."
Marion laughed. "You're right. You know my father well."
Indy lowered his head again. Marion looked around the room and got down off the counter. "So what is all this stuff?"
"Mostly just old pieces of junk," Indy said, figuring she was completely uninterested in the history behind dirty pieces of metal and clay.
"That's what my father devotes his life to," Marion said, looking over some fossils. "He can't get enough of it."
Indy followed her over to the counter, watching as those eyes looked over the display.
"You want to see something really interesting?" He asked, eyeing the box that held the amulet. She smiled and followed as he moved towards it. After opening it, nervously checking the door every second for Abner, he took out the cloth that held the precious amulet. Marion got very close, her eyes excited as he showed her the golden headpiece.
"Wow!" She said, feeling the edge. "That's gotta be pure gold!"
"There's a crystal in the centre too," Indy said pointing to it. "Priceless."
She looked to him then, her eyes wide. "Maybe we should put it back, in case my father returns."
Indy nodded, but did not hastily move to put he amulet back. Her gaze was on him and she was so close. He wanted to reach out and bring her lips to his, but instead turned his head and wrapped up the amulet. He put it back in the box and nailed the lid back down a second time. When he finished, she was standing by the door.
"I don't see him coming," she said reassuringly. "Last time he forgot his keys, he was wandering around for a half-hour."
"That sounds like Abner," Indy said. "He usually gets distracted."
Marion nodded. "I'm tired of waiting, let's go explore."
Indy looked inquisitively at her. "Explore?"
"Yeah!" Marion said excitedly. "He wont be back for a while, that's a lot of stairs he has to climb. I used to play around down here all the time when I was little, come on!"
She took his hand and lead him out the door. "We need to watch this stuff in here though," said Indy.
"It'll be fine, we wont go far," Marion said, starting down the hall.
Indy, helpless to protest, nodded and followed.
-TBC- Response always appreciated.