Chapter 1: Premonitions

'If you don't go, I'll send her to a convent!'

Indiana Jones whipped around. The look on his face was disbelieving, shocked even.

'You'll what?' he demanded.

'I mean it,' Abner told him. 'If you do not leave within 24 hours, then I will send my daughter to a nunnery.'

'She couldn't survive like that,' Indy said lowly. 'You'd sentence her to a slow death.'

'Don't exaggerate, Henry,' Abner told him. 'Besides, it would be the only way to keep her safe and, as her father, that is my right.'

'No, that would be your responsibility,' Indy argued, his voice as tight as a brand new rubber band. 'And you only acknowledge it now. I hope you burn in hell, you son of a bitch.' He turned his back. 'I'll be gone.'

Marion Ravenwood blinked and the vision faded out. She was in the kitchen again. Realisation dawned on her. What she'd just seen was what had been behind Indiana Jones leaving. She leaned on the sink of fought back tears.

'Oh, God,' she muttered to herself.

She remembered the last time she saw him. He'd snuck up the side of the house. She remembered the sad look in his eyes as he waited for her to open the window. When he got in, he locked her bedroom door and then pulled her into his arms, slowly making love to her. Now she understood. He'd wanted to memorise every part of her before he had to go. He hadn't told her what had happened because he had known how much it would make her hate her father.

Now she hated Abner. Oh, she hated him so much. He'd sent away the best thing that had ever happened to her. Indy had only left because he didn't want her to be miserable. He was right. Life as a nun would be a slow death to her. She didn't even really believe in God. On top of that, the life of a nun would be too oppressive to her. Abner had sent Indy away and she hated him for that. It wasn't healthy to hate your own flesh and blood, but she did.

She looked up as Abner came in.

'What's for dinner?' he asked.

'A rubber glove,' she snapped, grabbing one and throwing it at him as she stormed out of the room.

XXX

Marion lay in her hammock on the back porch. She was wearing the jumper that Indy had brought her. He'd gotten it for her when she'd complained about not having any proper jumpers. Actually, he'd called to England and it'd been sent by one of his immortal friends. Indy had a lot of those. So, technically, he hadn't brought it. He'd sent away for it and given it to her for her seventeenth birthday.

Marion closed her eyes. A girl with long blonde hair and green eyes walks down a track – the track that leads into her backyard. She has a serious look on her face as she moves. It is like she's thinking about what she should say. Marion opened her eyes and leaned up. A few minutes passed. Then the girl from the vision came out.

'Wow,' she remarked in a British accent. 'You really are precognitive.'

'Who are you?' Marion asked.

'Penny Hood,' the girl answered. 'Actually it's Lady Fionnghuala of Loxley, but nobody uses that anymore. They haven't for centuries. I actually translated my name. I must say, you wear that jumper well.'

'You're the one that Indy got to make it,' Marion murmured.

'That's right,' Penny said.

'Can you tell him something?' Marion asked.

Penny laughed. 'Let me guess. You want me to tell him that you know what happened and you want him to get you away from Abner as soon as possible?'

'Yeah.'

'Would if I could,' Penny told her, gently. 'I've spent my entire existence fighting people as overbearing as Abner. I love grinding his kind into the dust.' She paused. 'Unfortunately, the supernatural world has orders not to interfere. If we don't obey, this whole dimension could collapse.'

'That's just stupid,' Marion remarked.

'Isn't it just.' Penny laughed. 'But that's the way we have to work.'

'So who gives the orders?' Marion asked.

'Not "who", "what",' Penny corrected her. 'Some call it "the Fates". Some call it "the Powers That Be". Some simply call it "Fate". Others call it "Destiny". You'd know it as "God", same as I did when I was your age. I was sent, primarily, to tell you what's happened to you.'

'So?' Marion asked.

'Precognition,' Penny told her. 'What you're seeing is the future. Rest assured that no matter how long the visions seem to you, they only take a split second to pass.'

'What caused them?' Marion asked, her upbringing making her believe to the idea.

'An emotional burst,' Penny answered. 'It's like a dam burst. They usually come after traumatic revelations or experiences. I had never had one, but I have heard that the rest of the world blocks out so all you're aware of is the pain. Does that sound like something that happened to you?'

Marion nodded. That was exactly what had happened after Indy had left. She'd tried to hate him. It was more natural to hate Abner, strange as that sounded. Penny nodded as if to confirm it to herself.

'Indy, on the other hand, wouldn't have had one,' she said.

'Why not?' Marion asked.

'Because he's a lot more jaded than you seem to be,' Penny explained. 'When people become that jaded, they learn to ignore negative emotions and that decreases the ability to have an emotional burst. Indy went numb instead. Didn't care whether he lived or died. And I know that because several immortals, including me, had to step in to save his life on more than one occasion. He got to sleep by the way of "drink 'til you drop"…'

Another vision assaulted Marion's senses. A key turned in a lock and the door was pushed open. A guy who looked eighteen with dark hair and light brown eyes walked in. He walked through some rooms and into the living room. Indy was unconscious on the couch. The guy – it must've been Nick – settled him into a more comfortable position. Then he walked out of the room. He returned with a dustpan and brush. He went over to a corner and cleaned up the broken remains of a bottle. Penny's face came back into focus.

'…as you've probably just seen,' Penny finished. 'You people always do that eye thing when you have a vision.'

'Eye thing?' Marion asked.

'Your eyes widen, ever so slightly, for a second,' Penny told her. 'Not really noticeable if you don't know what to look for.'

XXX

Marion sat in her room, thinking about it. Her Indy had suffered just as much as she had, but he had a different, more destructive way of dealing with it. But he'd be back for her someday. She saw it. His shadow fell on the wall. She froze, her was heart pounding. Afraid to hope.

'Hello, Marion.'

He'd be back. She'd be waiting for him. And when she got him back, she was not letting him go. She'd make sure he knew he was hers and hers alone. It didn't matter what he did in the meantime. He was hers.