Hi there! I thought I should get this next chapter up since I'm starting school.

Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and alerted this! I've also gotten some author alerts! This makes me very happy, but the way to make me the most happy (which means quicker updates… -) is to send me reviews. I love to get real input and stuff. Praise is nice, too…

This chapter is from my OC's point of view, and it's kind of fun. At least, part of the time it is. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Indiana Jones or any of the stuff related to it, except for my OC. Or does she own me?...

Chapter Three: Reflections

Nat sat all alone in a waiting room at the military command center, trying to be unobtrusive and yet keep tabs on Indy. It had taken them nearly an hour to locate the command center, and then Indy had had to convince the men there that he really had been near and survived the atomic blast. He had finally gotten them to scan him for radiation, and about two seconds after they had they'd hurried him off to be decontaminated. They had scanned Nat , too, and been surprised to find that she showed no sign whatsoever of atomic radiation. They'd tried to question her, but she had just shaken her head. Now she was waiting alone outside the room where they were questioning Indy. She was using her abilities to listen in on the conversation.

From what she could understand, the men questioning Indy were asking him about all his dealings with his former friend, (What was his name, Nat thought), Mac. The men practically accused Indy of being a Communist, which made Nat very angry on his behalf. She wanted to burst into the room and tell the men what idiots they were, but she knew that to do so would be very dangerous, not just for her but for Indy, as well.

Now the three men were discussing the box Irina had wanted. Indy told the men about his previous experience with it, and asked what its contents really were. The men didn't know. Nat picked up some of Indy's prior memories and shuddered. She hadn't been able to figure out why Irina wanted the thing. In fact, she'd hardly been able to find out anything from Irina for a while. Nat guessed that Irina had used the artifact she had used on Nat on herself as well, perhaps modifying it slightly after its original use. The idea of this frightened Nat because it meant that she had an extremely difficult time figuring out the intentions of a person that would be beneficial for everyone to find out about.

Just as Nat was considering all of this, she sensed several people approaching and stiffened. A couple of American soldiers came in, flanking another military man who strode purposefully towards the room where Indy and his questioners were. Nat sensed that this man had come to help Indy and almost smiled. The man looked curiously at her for a moment, then burst through the door into the next room, leaving the other two soldiers behind. They took up positions on either side of the door, and Nat did her best to ignore them as she re-expanded her mental hearing.

Nat listened to the man who had just entered the next room admonish the questioners and vouch stoutly for Indy. She felt a great sense of relief.

Good, Indy's all right! she thought, Now we just have to get me safe, too…

Nat suddenly realized that the conversation next door had turned to her sister. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Now she was "seeing" what was happening in the next room, just as though she was there. One of the questioners was dropping an open file folder on the table in front of Indy, and Nat saw a picture of Irina in it.

Oh, great, she thought, Now when they see me, they'll pick up on the fact that I look a lot like her.

Indy was confirming Irina as the one he had encountered. The other men all seemed to be very worried by this, and Nat couldn't blame them. Then suddenly, the moment Nat had been dreading came. One of the questioners asked about her and how she had come to be with Indy. The man who had vouched for Indy asked the questioners if they could bring her in so that they could all talk to her. One of the questioners walked over to the door, meaning to ask the soldiers outside to bring Nat in. Nat opened her eyes and brought her "vision" back to normal. She stood up, and the soldiers looked at her, a little startled. Just then the questioner opened the door, poked his head out, and said, "We need—" He noticed Nat standing up already and looked a bit surprised, but then he beckoned to her. Nat walked over and followed him into the other room.

As soon as she entered the room, Indy looked up and gave her a little smile. She smiled back nervously, and said fervently in his mind, "Please don't tell them who I am, Indy! Please?"

Don't worry, he thought back, Trust me.

The man who had vouched for Indy was offering Nat his seat. She took it and stared down at the table, letting her hair fall in front of her face to disguise its similarity to the picture of Irina still sitting on the table.

"So, who is this, Dr. Jones?" one of the questioners asked.

"More to the point, can we trust her?" the other said.

"I trust her," Indy replied," And you could too if you would let yourself trust anything." Indy's advocate chuckled at this.

"Be that as it may, we still want to know who this is!" the first questioner said, stung by Indy's words.

Indy sighed. "Her name is Natalia. She was a prisoner of the Russians. She helped me escape, so I helped her to as well. Any questions?"

"How do you know she's not a Russian spy?" The questioner who asked looked very smug for thinking of this.

Indy grinned. "Well, for one thing, she can't talk. It'd be kind of hard to be a good spy if you couldn't speak. How would you let your people know what you'd learned? How would you integrate yourself into any sort of environment where spy work takes place?"

"You could write things down," one of the questioners said, but even he looked a little doubtful of his own words. Indy's advocate turned to Nat and smiled kindly at her.

"Would you mind saying something for us?" he asked her," Or at least attempting to say something?"

I could say something in your minds and scare all of you to death, Nat thought, but she didn't. Instead, she did what she was asked to do. She opened her mouth and tried to force a sound out, but the only noise that came out was the sound of her exhaled breath. She tried again, to the same result.

"See? I told you," Indy said a little triumphantly. His advocate looked convinced, and even the questioners looked grudgingly accepting.

"Well," one of them said, "None of this changes anything." He leaned across the table towards Indy. "Let us say that for now, you and your little friend are of great interest to the Bureau."

The other questioner leaned over, too, and added, "Of very … great… interest…"

NNNNNN

Not seventy-two hours after the first time, Nat was sitting alone again, only this time she was in the relative safety of Indy's house. Indy's advocate had gotten a car to take Nat and Indy there, and the next day Indy had gone off to teach his college classes. That had been the day before, and Indy had set off again that morning, leaving Nat alone for the second day in a row. She didn't really mind the solitude. Indy let her read any of his books she wanted to, and she had been able to take a long bath the day before. The only thing Indy had done that she hadn't liked had been forcing her to get some sleep. Nat hated sleep. When she slept, she couldn't see or hear, and also her mind opened, allowing the thoughts and emotions of everyone near her to enter her mind and influence her dreams. When she had been around Irina and her soldiers this had been a dreadful experience, so Nat had taken to sleeping as little as possible. She had explained all this to Indy, and his only response had been," I can't see or hear when I sleep, either."

"It's different for you," she'd retorted, "Even though you're asleep the senses still exist. If someone comes into the room where you are you can hear them and wake up, but I can't. And even after I wake up, it takes a while for me to get my sight and hearing back. It's like my mind has to completely reset itself. Plus, dreaming about what other people are thinking and feeling is not fun."

'The only other person here is me," Indy had said, and that had been that. Nat had slept for nearly nine hours on the couch in Indy's living room. Her dreams had actually not been that bad, considering. The most frightening of her dreams had involved several rather large snakes. In the dream she had been afraid of them, but when she woke up she couldn't help but grin at the ridiculousness of it.

At this particular time, Nat was sitting on the couch wearing Indy's spare bathrobe and reading. She was wearing the bathrobe because she was washing her other clothes. Currently her clothes were soaking because Nat knew that they were incredibly filthy and in need of serious cleaning. She was actually hoping to get some new clothes, for the ones she had kept her from leaving the house. Some time before she had met Indy she had been forced to wear some Russian Army fatigues rather like her sister's, and she had still been wearing them at the time of her escape.

Nat was just thinking of getting up and dealing with her clothes when she heard the front door open. She jumped up, dashed into the kitchen, and ducked behind the counter, reaching out with her mind to figure out who was entering the house. When she realized it was Indy she sighed with relief, but then she sensed someone was with him. She decided the best way to handle this would be to remain hidden and asked Indy what was going on. She entered Indy's mind and said, "You're here earlier than you said you would be. And who's that with you?"

A friend, Indy responded.

"Why are you back so soon?" Nat asked.

Listen to our conversation, was the only thing Indy said back, so Nat listened to the men's words and thoughts. She soon picked up on the fact that Indy had to leave his job, the man with him was the dean of the college where Indy worked and he was also planning to leave his job, and that Indy was going to be leaving the country immediately. Nat almost gasped at this, but then she realized that if she did it would reveal her presence. The two men were now by Indy's desk, talking about life's hardships and aging. Nat listened sympathetically as Indy mentioned the losses of his father and a close friend. Since she was also hearing his thoughts, she knew that he was also thinking of a woman whom he had loved but had had to leave. Nat felt very sorry for Indy, and wondered what had happened to this woman he loved.

A few minutes later, Indy's friend left. Nat stood up from her hiding place and walked over to where Indy was sitting. Even though the bathrobe was extremely covering, she folded her arms across her chest and took short steps to keep it from flapping. Indy was sitting at his desk, staring at a picture Nat knew was of his father. After a few seconds he looked up at he and asked, "So did you find out why I'm here?"

"Yes." Nat paused, then said imploringly, "Please let me come!"

"What?"

"Let me come wherever you're going! You're the first kind person I've met for a very long time, and I don't want to be alone again!"

Indy actually chuckled. "You think I wasn't planning to bring you along? And I thought you could read thoughts. Of course you're coming, Nat."

"Oh." Nat felt a little foolish.

Indy stood up and walked around the desk towards the bedroom. "We have to pack light," he called over his shoulder, "And I also think we'll have to find something else for you to wear. Nothing you have is suitable, except maybe the boots."

Nat followed him as far as the bedroom door. She leaned on the doorframe and said, "I agree. What did you have in mind?"

"Well…" Indy dug through his closet and pulled out a few items. He turned to face her, a little smirk on his face. "What about these?" He threw the clothes and Nat caught them.

"I'll try them," she said, went to where she was soaking her clothes and picked up her underclothes, then headed for the bathroom. She went in and shut the door, making sure it locked. She was just setting the clothes down and fumbling with the tie of the bathrobe when something caught her eye. She turned and almost jumped.

The thing she had seen turned out to be her reflection in the mirror. Nat stared, fascinated. She couldn't remember the last time she had looked in a mirror, but she knew it had been some time before Irina had changed her because she had never looked so strange to herself before. She had told Indy that her mental seeing was different than normal seeing, but she hadn't really explained what she meant, or even really thought about the differences much until now. The main difference between normal seeing and her mental vision was colors. She could see black and white well, but the only other colors she could see as clearly as before were brown and blue. Green was all right. Red was the worst. Right now, the only thing she could see of her reflection that looked like a normal color were her hair and eyes. The other colors in her face were strange, almost distorted.

My face has thinned some, she thought, It makes me look even more like Irina. She looked carefully at her eyes and gasped. My eyes! They're lighter! They used to be a much darker blue… Then she caught sight of something else. What's that on my neck? Some sort of strange mark… She touched the mark, which looked like a strange sort of tattoo. It was about two inches long, and on the left side of her throat. It looked like two slightly pointed ovals with a smaller oval in between them, vertically. There were little half-circles connected on either side of the smaller oval and four short lines radiating out from the spaces between where the half-circles and larger ovals met the little oval. Suddenly Nat knew that the mark was from the experiment performed on her. She stared at it for nearly a minute, willing it to disappear. Then Indy's voice made her jump.

"How do they fit?" he called through the door.

"Um… I haven't put them on yet. Just a minute."

About five minutes later, Nat stared at herself in the mirror again, only this time her mouth was twitching.

"Are these your clothes, Indy?"she asked.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" he called back.

Nat opened the door. "They're a bit… big."

Indy stared at her. "You can say that again," he said, trying not to laugh. Saying that the clothes were a "bit big" on Nat was a huge understatement. Since Indy was easily a foot taller than her and much wider, the shirt sleeves and pant legs fell well past Nat's hands and feet. The shirt itself thoroughly disguised her figure, but it also made her look as though she was wearing a small collared tent with buttons. She had to hold the pants up to keep them from falling straight off. Indy struggled with himself for several seconds, and finally succumbed to his suppressed laughter. Nat laughed too, but she made hardly any noise at all. After a few minutes Indy stopped and gasped for breath, still grinning.

"Well, I guess we could cut off the pant legs a bit, and maybe part of the sleeves too, but I don't have a clue what to do with the rest."

Nat looked down at herself critically. "Hmmm…" she said softly, "Well, I think I might be able to sort of tie the sides of the shirt so that it isn't quite so… billowy. And if you have a sewing kit and a belt I can have, I might be able to do something with the pants, as well."

"I'll look around." Indy started off, then turned back and said," You know, Nat, I think almost anything you do to that will be an improvement."

"Just get me the stuff, Indy!"

"All right, all right!"

It took Nat nearly half an hour, but when she had finished her alterations her clothes really did look much better. The sleeves and pant legs had been cut shorter and then cuffed to hide the raw edges. The shirt had been ingeniously tied at either side so that it fit around a little better. Nat had also done a little clever stitching at the waist of the pants to make it fit better in both width and length. She had cinched in the rest with a spare belt of Indy's. He had also found her an old coat that concealed the shirt knots at her hips and the slightly pleated looking waistline of the pants. Nat had also coiled her hair up on top of her head and tied it with a piece of string, and then Indy had given her one of his spare hats. It completely covered her hair and part of her face, as well. She had then put on her brown calf-high lace-up boots, pulled the pant legs down over them, and admired the effect in the mirror.

"Not bad," Indy said, looking too.

Nat grinned at him. "Let's get going," she suggested.

It was the work of a few minutes to pack two suitcases. When they had finished, they headed out, Indy locking the front door behind them. The train station was only about a mile away, so they walked there, Nat doing her best to be inconspicuous. When they reached the station Indy went and bought their tickets, and then he and Nat waited on the platform for their train to arrive. It came about fifteen minutes later, puffing steam and squealing its brakes. Nat stared at it. She was desperately hoping that no one would attempt to speak to her on this trip, and the sight of the huge train made her realize just how many people she would be coming in contact with. Indy touched her arm and she flinched instinctively away.

"It's just me," he said quietly, "Come on, let's find our compartment."

They started off down the platform, looking at the train cars. Finally Indy said, "Here it is," and went over to the door of one of the cars. He shooed Nat up the stairs in front of him and prepared to follow, but when he'd put one foot up on the step he stopped and looked back. Nat gave him a few seconds of reminiscing before saying softly, "Come on, Indy." He looked up at her, took one glance back, then turned fully away from his home and walked up the steps after Nat. They found their seats swiftly and stowed their luggage in the overhead rack. They had just sat down on their bench seat with Indy next to the window when Nat heard something.

"Hey, Indy," she said, nudging him, "What's that weird sound?"

Indy listened carefully, then muttered back, "That's strange. It sounds to me like a motorcycle, but why would anyone ride a motorcycle through in a train station?..."

If you look on my home page you will see a picture of the mark on Nat's neck. Look if you want.

Woot! Our first mention of Mutt! A little preview for you: the next chapter will be told almost entirely from Mutt's point of view! Fun! Hard, but fun…

Please, please, please review! Pretty, pretty, pretty please…..