Disclaimer: I do not own Indiana Jones or any of its affiliates, like the books, magazines, the game, or the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. I wish I did, that would be kinda awesome.

Chapter 1

Bedford Connecticut, Marshall College

May 4, 1937

There were still a few days left in this, the final semester of the year for Doctor Henry Jones Junior, or as he is known in other select circles, Indiana. He had many, many exams and term papers to grade and hand out so that meant that future adventures were on hold so that he could keep his tenure, and thus his job. The pay was good, some of the students were genuinely interested in archaeology, so it was a good day job. However being an archaeology teacher meant grading tests, creating said tests, and going over each and every one of his two hundred students' projects and papers one by one. It was time consuming of course, but occasionally he found one or two students who really seemed to get it, and showed true potential for becoming archaeologists. As he was working he heard a knock on his office door and saw the face of one of those few good students of his.

He smiled, knowing the blonde hair and blue eyes of his favorite student in his single Introductory Archaeology class. Her name was eighteen year old freshman Elizabeth Downey, daughter of a wealthy New England industrialist who was a prominent booster for Marshall College. She'd been his prize student for his only Intro to Archaeology, getting everything done early and getting it done right. Her grades had made the need to take the final exam an option but she'd opted to take it anyway, so that spoke greatly of her and her commitment to archaeology. In fact it was her major, which was certainly a rarity among the girls in Indiana's classes. She would always stay after, asking about what field work was like, what he did that caused him to be absent for a great deal of time. Of course, he didn't tell her everything, some of the things he encountered were things that only a handful of archaeologists came up against, and the majority of them just packed up and left to save their own skin rather than confronting the causes of the trouble like he had.

But she was pleasant company, and showed all the signs of becoming a great archaeologist, so he was willing to talk to her and take time off of grading to speak to her. So he got up and opened the door, seeing the beaming smile of the young girl as she clutched a notebook to her chest.

"Hello Elizabeth, I'd thought that you had gone home, there's no more class because of exams," he said.

"Well I was going to Professor, but I wanted to ask you about something first," she replied, her fingers nervously tapping on the worn leather bound notebook.

"Alright, I've got a bit of time," Indiana said, motioning for her to sit down.

"Thank you Professor Jones," she said, all but bounding over to the wooden chair in front of his crowded desk, "Remember when I asked about how next semester in the Advanced Archaeology classes one of the requirements was going out into the field on a real archaeological expedition?"

"Yes vaguely, that was early on in the year."

"Well, I've already registered for your class next year, and I was wondering if it were possible to get that field work out of the way early to count towards next year's class?" she continued.

"You've got something in mind already?" he asked, curious as to what this young student was driving at, "It's not all that common for a freshman student to go on an expedition before prompted to do so. And even then I can't officially be a part of it as your teacher. The University would never allow it."

"Well I only wanted it as the final project credit. I've been working on the research since I asked the question and I've got it all planned out. We were going to go to Italy."

"Hmm…an expedition to Italy during the summer, good timing. So what exactly is the objective of your…expedition?"

"We want to find the Treasure of the First Emperor," Elizabeth said proudly, "And more specifically the Shield of Gallia. All of it the spoils of war from Caesar conquering the Gauls and stealing the Shield of Gallia from its resting place in Alesia."

"The Lost Treasure of Julius Caesar?" Indiana questioned, arching his eyebrow, "If you've done your research then you would remember that many people have tried finding that treasure themselves, but Caesar never told anyone where he had hidden that treasure, and the secret died with him when he was assassinated in Rome."

"Have you tried Professor?" Elizabeth asked with a definite hint of defensiveness in her voice.

"Well no, I just know when to believe in superstition and when to believe in fact. The Shield of Gallia for example. A giant green ruby said to hold the power of the heathen gods and whoever holds it cannot be killed? You surely don't believe in that do you?"

"Well no," she responded, "But I do think that Caesar was smart enough to hide the spoils of war from his conquests and come back later to fund his position as emperor or to fund the building of a new army in case things went badly."

Indiana chuckled at that, "There are a lot of things that the Romans said happened that we now know to be exaggerations. Caesar's Treasure is one of them. The Roman Emperor's that followed Caesar scoured the Italian Alps looking for it, the Holy Roman Empire looked for it, every single Pope looked for it, the Italian City-States, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and dozens of experienced archaeologists have tried and failed."

Elizabeth felt her heart drop at that, she had hoped that he would fully support her efforts in this endeavor. She'd spent dozens of hours scouring historical accounts, maps, stories, and legends from hundreds of years of history compiling her notes that she now held in her hand.

"Well, I thought we could try, but I guess that if that many people have tried and failed, then it doesn't exist after all," she replied, a bit dejected, but before she got up Indiana said something to her that she hadn't expected to hear after that long explanation.

"But just because people before you have tried and failed doesn't mean that it will happen the same way for you. I'll give you full credit for the expedition upon delivery of a copy of your travel forms, pictures, notes, and reports, or any artifacts that you can dig up."

She looked up and beamed at him, her smile returning brighter than before. She had the sudden urge to jump over the desk and give Indiana a bear hug she was so excited. But, thankfully, she was able to control herself, barely. She jumped to her feet, holding her book in hand.

"Thank you so much Professor!" she squealed, "When I come back you're going to be the first one I show the stuff we find!"

"Elizabeth, calm down, there's still something that I need to know before you decide to do this. Something like this is bound to be dangerous, and you have to understand and plan for a way out in case you're put into a situation where you are in danger."

"I'm taking my brother and his best friend. And my father has friends in Europe that'll take us in and help us leave Europe if things go wrong. I know, I've planned way ahead," she responded proudly.

"And do you speak Italian? Or French? Or German?"

"My brother does, he's a Linguistics Major. And his best friend is a cowboy from Texas who's fought bandits and rustlers on his ranch," Or at least my brother said he did, "And my father has given my brother and I enough money to buy all the equipment we need and we have about two thousand dollars of spending money for when we get there."

"I see you have thought ahead," Indiana chuckled, reaching into a file cabinet behind him and pulled out a folder of papers and handed it over to her, "Here's your rubric, and it'll tell you what to do for the part I'll actually grade."

"Oh, okay," she replied, "Is that all?"

"One last thing," Indiana said, "If anything happens where you feel like you or anyone else is in danger you drop everything and catch the first ship home. No amount of gold or jewels is worth your life or the lives of others."

"I understand Professor, and thank you," she said getting to her feet and made her way to the door.

She waved him goodbye as she opened the door and was startled to see Dr. Marcus Brody at the door about to knock as she opened it. She jumped in surprise at nearly walking into him and he too seemed rather flabbergasted at nearly being walked into himself.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry for surprising you my dear. Umm…is Dr. Jones in?" the man pleasantly asked.

"I'm here Marcus, just got finished helping her with a Summer project," Indiana replied.

"Oh? And pray tell, what is it my dear friend has instructed you to do?" Marcus asked.

"I actually asked if an expedition I had planned could go towards counting as a field credit for next year."

"An expedition you say? And what, my dear are you off to find? Some great truth or treasure?" Marcus asked now quite interested.

"The Treasure of the First Emperor, and hopefully the Shield of Gallia," Elizabeth said confidently, not aware that her declaration fell upon the ears of a man wearing a black suit sitting on a chair just around the corner, listening to every word.

"Julius Caesar's lost treasure? My, my, my, that is quite the undertaking. When you return, I would very much like to see any artifacts that you recover, the Museum would be delighted to have such esteemed items in our Roman exhibits," Marcus offered.

"Marcus, she has to find those items first," Indiana said, getting the always opportunistic Marcus Brody to calm down so that Elizabeth could about her business.

"Oh yes of course, well good luck Miss Downey, safe journeys my dear."

"Good bye Doctor Jones, bye Doctor Brody, we'll be back before you know it with tales of adventure and hopefully a chest of treasure."

"I hope so," Indiana chuckled, "Good luck."

Elizabeth was ecstatic as she fast walked to the library, trying her hardest not to break into a run. Her brother Michael and his roommate and best friend Jackson Williams were waiting in the back corner where the two of them usually met. They were both sophomores, but Jackson, better known on campus as 'The Cowboy' was a young sophomore, roughly the same age as Elizabeth at nineteen years old. At first glance there were no two guys more different than her brother and Jack.

At twenty years old Mike was the oldest of the trio. He had the same blonde hair as his little sister and the same blue eyes. But he kept his hair neatly styled, and more often than not had a simple gray flat cap when he was outside. He was usually wearing a sports jacket worn casually that he used to proudly exhibit his fine physique to the ladies who tended to swoon over him. He was a charmer that was for sure, every week he usually had a new girl on his lap as he spoke eloquent French or Italian to them. He was a Linguistics Major, with the hopes of going into the State Department and work overseas in perhaps Paris, or Rome, or London and see the world. But his true passion was for cars, and anything else new and modern, like the plane, the submarine, or anything that he was ranting about to his nineteenth century friend who was as out of place here as anywhere else.

Jack was a Texas boy that much was for certain. He was never ever seen without his worn brown leather cowboy boots, blue Levis, and a simple cotton long sleeve shirt with his equally worn brown Stetson on his head. He had a shaggy head of medium length brunette hair and most of the time had some stubble on his face from not shaving. He'd more than once gotten into trouble for having another aspect of his Texas culture in his room, his black-handled Colt Peacemaker. The deans had wanted him kicked out, but the person paying for his education, his uncle, had a lot of pull and thus they'd never been able to get him out. The guy preferred to everything the old fashioned way, he didn't like riding in cars, and was deathly afraid of flying. He had actually not wanted to be here, he'd wanted to attend Texas A&M like his father had done, but his father didn't want him to serve in the Army, so he was now here, where his uncle, an oil tycoon, had gone and graduated. But, what kept him here was the genuine friendship he now had with Mike, and the crush he had on Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was bar none the small fry of the trio, at five foot four and hardly one hundred fifteen pounds she was not the ideal picture of an adventurous future archaeologist. But she was not some prissy "Doll" or "Babe" to be had by any boy that winked at her. She'd earned a reputation as the toughest girl for a guy to date in the entire school. But to her infuriation, that just made the boys that much more determined. In fact, hardly a week went by when she didn't go off on someone for not taking the hint that she was not interested in being their girlfriend. Not even the Quarterback of the football team had gotten a date with her. She just seemed to be one of those girls that was a one in a million occurrence, the type of girl that was sure to shake things up wherever she went. Now, entering the library and finding the two guys she was looking for she was about to enter a realm that was not going to be shaken so easily.

"Hello boys," she said happily, sitting across from her brother and Jackson, or Jack for short.

"Well Lizzy? Did you talk to Professor Jones?" Mike asked as she slapped the folder down that contained her assignments and grading rubric.

"Oh yeah, got it all right here. Now all we need to do is pack up and sail to Europe and find that treasure," she said proudly.

"Sounds good to me," Jack said from where he was sitting with his boots propped up on the table, "When do we leave?"

"Father has already chartered a ship for the trip. Destination, London," Mike said, slapping three tickets onto the table which Elizabeth took excitedly, "We leave in three days."

"He got us tickets aboard the Queen Mary?! Oh my gosh! I never thought he'd actually go through with it!" she about yelled, getting nasty looks from other students studying for exams they had to take that day.

"Only the best for my little sister," Mike said with a grin, "Besides, this is father you're talking about here Lizzy."

"Oh, right," Elizabeth mumbled, remembering how much her father loved to pamper the two of them, "What about you Jack? Did your family say you could go?"

"I talked with my pa, he said it's alright to go on an adventure of my own. So long as I come back," the Texas boy responded with a simple shrug.

"Will father be meeting us at the ship?" Elizabeth asked, looking at her brother expectantly.

"He said something in Chicago came up, he said he wasn't going to be able to make it. But he said that he'll write us when we get to London."

"Oh," she said, slightly saddened at not being able to say good bye to her father.

"It's alright Elizabeth, he'll be here when we get back. It's not like we're leaving forever you know. We have so much to look forward to, like Paris, London, Rome, and finding that treasure. I know I'm looking forward to having those French girls swooning over me when they hear my French."

"You never know," Jack chuckled, "Ye might meet yerself a nice French girl who actually understands yer frog speak and realizes yer full of shit."

"Oh shutup Cowboy, you're just wanting to see the looks on those Europeans' faces when they see a real life Cowboy and then mystify them with some of your simple rodeo tricks and tales of the Old West."

"Yer damn right," Jack chuckled, bringing his feet down to sit up right to listen into the conversation and actually take part, "So have we got everything all set? I know I'm packed, what about you two?"

"I have a few things I need to check and then I want to write some letters to my friends, saying good bye, and then I'll be good to go," Elizabeth responded.

"Yeah same here," Mike said, "Oh shoot, I need to go down to that gun shop on thirty-first street to pick up something!"

"Gun shop?!" Elizabeth half shouted, "Why would you need to go to the gun shop?!"

"I bought a gun, a Colt 1911. You don't think I would trust his antique revolver to keep us safe do you?" Mike responded.

"We won't need either one of your two guns. We're going to Europe, not the Middle East or South America. We won't have anything to worry about there, trust me."

"I don't know, them Europeans can get a mighty touchy. What with them slapping each other silly and dueling for somethin' as stupid as spilling a drink on a carpet," Jack said, defending his intention of keeping his pistol for the trip.

"You have no idea what Europe is like do you?" Mike asked, looking at his friend with a frown that showed just how disappointed in his friend's knowledge of modern times he really was.

"Nope, not really," Jack chuckled, "What? Do you?"

"Of course I do! Man Europe has stuff that'll make you drool, the cars, the planes, the technology, the class, and the ladies…"

"Oh shutup Mike," Elizabeth said, growing weary of his obsession with the ladies of Europe, "Remember, we're going there to find a treasure, a treasure no one has been able to find for thousands of years. We need to focus, or someone might beat us to it."

"Who would beat us to it? According to what you told us no one is looking for it anymore."

"That's because they looked in the wrong place," she grinned, tapping her notebook, "But I think I know where they haven't looked."

As she continued to explain her plan a lone quiet man sat with his back turned at a table with a few random books he had picked from the nearest shelf. His ears were tuned into every word that the young girl said to her brother and friend. He listened intently, picking up every word, every location, every name that she said, writing it down on his note pad. Occasionally he would flip the page, feigning studying as he listened with the practiced expertise of the spy he was. And not one of the three college kids picked up on it or him.

Three Days Later

The docks of New York were crowded, stank of fish, and were noisy, and all three future adventurers were glad to be rid of them and to be aboard the largest ship any of them had ever seen. The RMS Queen Mary was a truly awe inspiring ship. Her reputation for luxury, comfort, and class were unparalleled, and hardly anyone even remembered that she was owned by the same company as the ill-fated Titanic, White Star Lines. Elizabeth and Mike's father had arranged for them to have a first class suite, with Mike and Jack sharing a room while Elizabeth had a room to herself, as was proper. The two siblings had been in such comforts before, and knew how to act around the other first class passengers that were staying in neighboring rooms.

Jack on the other hand wasn't so graceful around some of the rich and noble social elite that had encountered him. He refused to wear the formal attire that Mike and Elizabeth wore aboard the ship for their departure. So when it came time for dinner to be served and the numerous socialites began migrating to the Verandah Grill, the most exclusive part of the ship, he, Mike, Elizabeth soon became an interest to the elite who would take a seat with them. The two guys had chosen some of their finer dinner attire, with Mike wearing a suit and tie and pressed slacks. Jack however had a bit of trouble, he only had a clean pressed pair of black slacks, and a red long sleeved shirt with a Navajo Bola Tie embroidered with a turquoise stone, and decorated in polished silver. He tried shining his boots with some borrowed shoe polish and they now looked respectable and he'd also bought a new black Stetson for an occasion like this.

So it didn't take long at all for them to get ready for dinner even with some slight pitch of worsening seas as the great ship got further into the North Atlantic.

"What's taking yer sister so long to get dressed?" Jack asked as the two of them sat on a cushioned bench outside of their suite.

"She's always been slow to get dressed, she can never decide on what to wear to anything. Mark my words, we'll spend more time waiting for her to get dressed than we will on the move to find that treasure," Mike said.

"I suppose so, you know women," Jack chuckled.

"Hey! That's my sister you're talking about," Mike calmly snapped.

"Okay boys let's go," all of a sudden called out, making the two friends look back to see the source of the voice.

"Whoa," Jack whispered, staring at Elizabeth in the black dress she was wearing.

"Nice choice sis," Mike said, "Did you have much trouble choosing?"

"I only brought three dresses thank you very much, I don't intend on spending all of this trip socializing, but one must look presentable."

To say she looked presentable was a vast understatement. She had styled her hair to have the left side of her face partly covered with a fake rose hair clip holding it there. Her dress was simple but elegant. It came down to her ankles, allowing her simple black heels to be shown off. It wasn't too modest, but it was cut just so that it didn't leave much to the imagination as to where her body curved. The back was cut just below her shoulder blades with the zipper well hidden in the silken fabric. She had put on a bit of makeup but not too much. She also had a pair of long black gloves on her hands that went to the middle of her forearm to complete the amazing look. She knew what she looked like, and couldn't help but stifle a giggle at seeing Jack's jaw drop to the floor

"Well, time to go Lizzy, we don't want to be late," Mike said, smoothing out his suit and took his sister's arm and walked them towards where they'd be having dinner.

They were roomed amidships, allowing them easy access to just about anywhere on the ship they wanted, and the exclusive bar/restaurant was within a five minute walk. On the way they began to run with a crowd of well-dressed men and women speaking refined English, French, Italian, and even a few words in Spanish were heard. Jack's own dress seemed common by comparison to some of the suits, ties, and jewelry that adorned the upper class gathering. So he noticed the sideways glances of curious men and women looking at him and his definite Western attire.

Once they reached the Verandah Grill they were greeted by an extremely formal waiter who showed them to their table and pulled out a chair for Elizabeth and offered glasses of wine to the three who politely accepted. As they waited and watched they saw several people give them odd glances, and more than once the three heard the word 'Cowboy' among the socialites.

They got up and walked around, sticking together, and tried to converse, but it was the same thing every time. But more than once, a single black haired man smoking a cigarette walked near them and gave all three a truly suspicious look. Mike noticed it, and Jack noticed it, but thankfully Elizabeth didn't notice it. She had enough to worry about being the center of attention as a beautiful young American girl who just so happened to be the daughter of a wealthy businessman well known in Europe.

"You think I'm a little out of place?" Jack joked as he looked around at the swirling mass of finery.

"You think?" Mike prodded.

"I dare say," said an older English gentleman wearing a monocle and cradling a glass of red wine, "I couldn't really believe my eyes when I saw that I was to be seated with you young gentlemen and the young lady."

"I beg your pardon?" Elizabeth asked, taken somewhat off guard by the sudden conversation now thrown her, Mike, and Jack's way from this older man who had seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Oh where are my manners? Charles Goodworth, formerly of the Royal Navy and His Majesty's Ship Ajax," he said, gingerly taking Elizabeth's gloved hand and placing a light kiss on it.

"Elizabeth Downey," she replied curtly, "And this is my brother Michael," she added, motioning to him.

"Delighted," the Brit said, shaking Mike's hand.

"And our friend Jackson Williams," Elizabeth added, motioning to the metaphorical sore thumb of the entire room, "of Dallas, Texas."

"Uh…howdy," Jack said, shaking the offered hand.

"Ah, a real Texas Cowboy! I must say, I have never seen Cowboys outside of the motion pictures and the books of the Old Wild West. Say, is it true that all you Cowboys drive cattle and fight red Indians?" he pressed.

"Uh…well no. But most folks in Texas live in the country, runnin' their own farms with a few ranches spread all over the place. But the Indians were displaced to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. We ain't got no quarrel with them anymore."

"Dinner is served," was suddenly announced from the front of the entire gathering.

"Psst, Jack," Mike whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Don't look, but you see that guy by the window seat smoking a cigarette? He's been watching us since we got on the ship. I don't like him."

"Oh yeah I noticed it too. Something ain't right about that fella."

"Think we should tell Lizzy?" Mike asked.

"Nah, it's probably nothin' just some rich guy who doesn't like us Americans."

"Yeah there's plenty of them around, get used to it. Still, there's something suspicious about him."

"I'll keep an eye on him."

As they gradually began to calm down and enjoy the fine dinner and drinks that were being served the man continued watching them subtly, waiting for his chance...

And done! Here's to my first Indiana Jones fanfic. I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter, and let me tell you now, things are about to get interesting, very interesting.

Next Chapter Preview: The suspicions grow, as does the danger.