Author's note: Yes, Indy and Marion finally catch a break-though perhaps not the way we thought they would. Because Journey has an overall rating of T, this version of the chapter 'fades to black' as the intimate scene begins. It can stand as is for those who prefer not to read adult content. The intimate scene (which is explicit, but tasteful, I hope) is posted as a M rated outtake under the title Water of Life. It does contain adult material, so anyone clicking over should consider that they've been advised. Please review either or both!
The second day with the 'salvaged' Jeep Indiana and his party took a meal and stretch break when the sun was directly overhead.
Mutt was demolishing his fruit and field ration when his nose twitched and his brow furrowed. He went back to the Jeep, lifted the hood then went to the boot to retrieve his tools.
"Something wrong?" asked Indy,
"I smell something. Think I better check the fluids"
"I smell something too, but I don't think it's the car" Ox put in thoughtfully.
Indy lifted his head and inhaled the moist jungle air.
"You're right, I smell it too. Hand me that Kalashnikov, Ox, I'm going to have a look around."
Ox rose to his feet. "I'll go with you, Henry. Marion should stay here with Mutt."
"I don't need Mutt to 'protect' me, Marin began, annoyed.
"No, you don't," Indy put in calmly. "But Mutt's hands are full and you can hold a rifle."
She had the grace to look sheepish. "You win, Jones."
"Well that's a first" Indy said cheerfully, and kissed her before heading out with Ox.
Ox and Indy came back later, bearing fruit and good news.
"There's a mineral spring close by" said "Oxley" and the water's hot."
Marion's eyes widened. "Hot water?" she said. "I have news for you, Jones. If it's safe and that's a hot spring I'm not going anywhere until I've had a bath."
Mutt looked over at his parents and grinned. "I wouldn't ague with that look, Daddy-O.
We'll be here till sundown at least. Besides, I dunno about you but I could use to stop smelling like 50 miles of bad road, myself."
Indy snorted. "Certainly make us less obvious to the local carnivores, once we have to abandon the jeep and start walking again. So I'm all for a bath. Now, there weren't any human tracks as far as we could tell, but we shouldn't camp by the spring in case there might be other visitors."
"Right", said Ox "and we should go by twos, each pair with a weapon."
"And" put in Mutt, "Mom should go first. We're guys, we can hold out. Mom's been a real trooper, but she hates to be dirty and she shouldn't have to wait."
"You're right", said Indy, with an approving look at Marion-and his son. "Most women would have been bitching every step of the way after one day under these conditions- let alone nearly a week. I haven't heard one word of complaint from your mother. The least she deserves is a hot soak if she wants one."
"No 'ifs' about it, Jones" said Marion. "I'm gong to fetch a couple of those blankets. You coming?"
When they were out of sight of the little camp, Indy turned to her with a tender smile, and a big hand reached out for one of hers. Together they picked their way through the underbrush to the spring.
Marion had to admit it was a fairly romantic setting. The little clearing was surrounded by vine-hung trees. Colorful birds few from branch to branch, and monkeys chattered and squabbled in the distance. Shafts of sunlight filtered through the canopy, to gild the moss and ferns carpeting the ground. There was an outcropping of flat rocks at the spring's near end with some sandy dirt by the water's edge The spring itself looked blissfully warm- she even thought she saw a few curls of steam on the surface.
As she put down the blankets, Indy shouldered the Kalashnikov and cleared his throat. ."You wait here, honey. I'm going to check the perimeter one last time and, ah see a man about a horse."
Marion smiled at the butterflies in her stomach. By tacit agreement, she and Indy had slept together since the first night at Akator, but the operative word had been 'slept.' There had been a certain, rather wonderful, amount of loving and kissing, but neither one of them had wanted to initiate a next step where they could be overheard. This was their first chance to be together well out of earshot of Mutt and Ox. And from the looks Indy had been giving her, he was well aware of the possibilities,
While she waited for him she arranged the blankets in a comfortable nest close to the water. Just right for sitting and resting on, or for two people who'd like to spend some time very close together….She looked at the inviting pool with longing and thought about just stripping and getting in. No. Better let Indy set the pace. But at least I can get my boots off…
She was wriggling her toes when Indy interrupted her musings. He down beside her, and stretched out his long legs.
"Well, sweetheart, here we are. Um, alone at last."
"And as proof that the universe has a sense of humor, Jones we're alone at last out in the middle of hell-and-gone sitting on a blanket. Again."
"We did seem to bring one along the summer I taught you to shoot, didn't we?"
"And then the next year, when you were teaching me to drive..."
Indy put an arm around her, laid his cheek on her hair, and smiled with nostalgia. "Well, you actually did learn to shoot, but I think there was a little more kissing than driving, babe."
"A lot more kissing than driving. Not that I minded too much."
"Me either. You know, I never figured out how you learned to kiss like that .Or where-you learned about some of those other things…
"Oh, that's easy."
"Mmmmm?"
"Remember that glass front bookcase Abner kept locked?"
"The one with the Perfumed Garden and the Kama Sutra and all those other books?"
"Mm-hmmm"
"I remember it pretty well- Abe would give me the key, sometimes, and send me to unlock it for other students. He figured they could read anything there as long as they were over 21. I don't think all those guys were doing scholarly research, though..."
Marion smirked. "You were such a Boy Scout, Indy- that thing opened in 10 seconds flat with a hairpin."
Indy pulled her tighter until she could feel his chest shaking with laughter.
"So you picked the lock and read those books, did you? That explains a helluva lot."
"Of course I did. Though I'm still not really sure exactly what Fanny Hill had to do with archaeology."
"You know, when I read it-strictly from the standpoint of science, of course-"
"Of course."
"I asked myself the same question"
"So what's the answer, Jones?" Laughter was fizzing through Marion's blood like champagne.
"The answer is 'beats the hell outta me'. But what interests me is why you read it-scientific inquiry as well, sweetheart?"
"Well, partly. I didn't have a mother, so nobody was there to tell me about what happens between men and women. Whatever I wanted to know, I had to find out on my own. It's why I always tried to talk to Mutt honestly about these things."
Marion smiled "And partly I read those books because of you."
Indy had stopped laughing, but his eyes were alight. "Me? You read the Kama Sutra because of me?"
"Of course, because of you. I loved you very much, Indy. I wanted to please you and make you happy."
Indy melted. "Awwww, honey. 'Please me and make me happy'. You're one of the few people who ever cared about that. And you know you did. So much." He cuddled her in and dropped soft, nibbling kisses on her neck
"I'd think about you all day on that dig, watching the sky, wondering why in hell it took so long for the sun to go down. I couldn't wait for evening when we'd be together. I could take you for a 'driving lesson' and park that jalopy somewhere private .Then I could spread a blanket out under the stars and have you all to myself."
"You and me and a blanket. Just like now."
"Yeah", he breathed, "just like now". And then he took her face between his hands and kissed her, slow and sweet. Oh, Marion…When the kiss broke, he looked down at her and spoke hesitantly. "I don't- don't know what you're expecting"
She looked up and smiled "Just you, Indy. Just you."
"Um, honey, there's been a few years and a lot of mileage since we were together last. And sometimes when a man gets older…." Goddammit, he was starting to babble. So much for the smooth, unstoppable romantic style of Indiana Jones…
Marion put a gentle finger to his lips and stilled him.
"Indy. When you were 26, you were the sweetest, tenderest lover any girl could have dreamed of. When you were 37, you were the handsomest, sexiest man any woman could have wanted in her bed. I'm sure that you're a wonderful man now."
Her hand slipped over to caress his cheek and jaw.
"But I don't think you're sure about that."
Indy closed his eyes for a moment, but made no reply. And why, oh why have I just gone from a babbling idiot to a tongue tied fool with the one woman who really matters?
"You…don't?" he finally said.
"No. But I do think I know what's troubling you"
She patted the blankets beside her "C'mere and stretch out, Jones. And while you do I'll tell you a story.'
"Don't suppose I could get a back rub out of the deal?"
"That could be arranged." She gave him a wicked grin. "Remember how I used to do your back?"
"Do I ever, honey. It was heaven."
Indy took off his now-ragged shirt and set his hat, whip and gun on top of it. He settled down beside her, and rested his head in the lovely curve of her neck and shoulder. Marion put her arms around him and moved onto her back, letting him pillow himself on her body. Then she put her hands to work, kneading and stroking.
When she started on the knots between his shoulder blades he groaned with pleasure.
"Dear God that feels good. I remember how much I used to love this, but I'd forgotten how great it really feels."
"Well, this way is better than having a rickety camp cot tip over because I tried to kneel beside you."
"Well, yeah," Indy gave a reminiscent chuckle. "That was a little more excitement than we bargained for. Especially since you weren't supposed to be in my tent in the first place."
"And neither one of us was fully clothed..."
"And we knocked the lantern over and nearly started a fire…"
"Well, if somebody had just kept his overly large feet on the cot…"
"He was trying to, but somebody kept tickling them.. And they are not 'overly large', they just go with the rest of me!"
They laughed together, and Indy lifted his head enough to look in her eyes.
"If I've never told you-I remember those days with you as the happiest time of my life. You were so good to me- all those sweet things you'd do. You were such a little woman, Bright Eyes. I guess I let myself forget just how young you really were. But-I shouldn't have."
"I was still a girl in some ways, Indy. But I had a woman's heart- and I loved you so."
"And here you're interrupting me, when I'm trying to tell you that the single biggest regret of my life is the number I did on yours. And that was before I knew the half of it."
He licked his lips. "I don't see how you could possibly forgive me."
"I've spent some time wondering about that, too"
"Mmmm?"
"Indy, honestly-I just don't know what to do with you. Sometimes when I look at you, now, I feel like I'm falling through time. I don't remember where I am or how old I am-or who I am. You and I know each other-but we don't. You were the man I loved -but I married someone else. I bore you a child- but we didn't raise him together. And maybe it's better if we do try to table some of this until our party hits stateside in one piece. You and I sniping at each other from here to Iquitos over things that can't be changed isn't going to get Mutt and Ox back home."
"And when we're stateside, what happens to 'you and I'?" he asked.
"I wish I knew. By rights, it should be the usual 'goodbye at the dock'. That's what I was planning on," -an arm tightened around her in silent protest- "but -I'm not sure I can do that, anymore. I've got to get my bearings with you somehow, Jones. We'll just have to see. "
"Fair enough. Um, does that mean you'll still double up with me, nights?"
"If you still want me to?"
"Awwww, honey. Of course I do."
"Then of course I will."
They fell silent then. Marion worked on his back, stroking and gentling until she felt him start to relax.
"So. Tell me your story?"
"All right. My story's about a man. Like most men, he could be an idiot at times. Still, he was a very smart man, a brave man, and fundamentally a good man. He'd seen and done some pretty amazing things."
"But as time went on, the world was changing around him. He didn't always find it easy to keep people in his life. Then after his father died, and his dear friend died, maybe he found himself a little lonely."
"More like a lot lonely" said a soft voice near her ear.
"So perhaps this fella, who'd cheated death a time or two, was realizing that his number would come up sooner or later. Maybe he was hearing his own mortality whisper in his ear. That's hard, when you don't have children. So he looked for a little comfort where a lonely man often does-in a woman's arms."
"Comforting place. When you're with the right woman."
"But when he got with a woman, maybe it didn't go the way he expected. Things may have, oh, taken a little longer to get started. Maybe everything didn't, um, work the way it usually did, especially if the man had been drinking."
The graying head pillowed on Marion's breasts gave a tiny, fractional nod. She kissed it and continued, softly.
"So. If the woman the man was with wasn't his woman, she likely didn't love him. It could be if things didn't go, um, the way she thought they were gonna, something was said or done that stung the man a little. Or a lot. Right in the spot that's the chink in any guy's armor".
"Yeah" breathed a barely audible voice. Marion's heart broke. Never thought I'd miss Indy's cocky swagger…or that I would ever have to. She stopped massaging for a moment and just held her man tight. Her man heaved a sigh of relief that seemed to come up from his toes, and pulled her in tighter. They stayed fused together for a long moment.
Every grown woman worth her salt knows there's ways to save a man's pride if something goes amiss in bed. That bitch, whoever she was, didn't have to hurt Indy that way-or this much. One of Marion's hands curled into a claw, before resuming its loving touch. I could just punch her lights out.
"Maybe," Marion went on, "the fella didn't have to see that woman again, so he just tried to forget the whole thing. But it might have happened another time, or maybe he worries that it's going to."
Indy looked up then with a rueful, shy smile and a faint tint to his cheeks.
"And I thought I was such a smart guy, explaining the 'facts of life' to you, all those years ago. My sweet baby's all grown up- and very wise."
"Everybody talks to the barkeep, Indy. And every guy thinks that he's the only man in history who's ever had anything not go perfectly between the sheets. That's very far from the truth. From what the working girls say, it's pretty common-happens to almost every man at one time or another. It's just that men, being the idiots you all are, won't admit it."
Indy tucked his head back down and sighed. "So, er, not that I'm admitting anything, but do the working girls say there's anything a fella who might have had that problem can do about it?"
"Mmm. It's a pretty easy problem for a guy to fix, from what I've been told. Unless the man is very sick, or very old-and that means ninety, Jones, not fifty-eight. Fifty-eight is middle- aged. If everything basically works fine, it helps if the guy lays off the sauce, and gets a good night's sleep. And then if he gets with a woman who loves him, or understands him, or at least has a kind heart, the whole thing pretty much takes care of itself. And even if the man is older or ill, there's still ways to make sure that everybody goes home happy. As you would well know if you were thinking…"
"Hmmm." Indy nuzzled her neck and spoke in thoughtful tones. "As for the sauce, there's nothing to drink out here anyway. The sleep? If I'm next to you, I sleep like a baby, always have. So I guess that leaves the woman."
"In case you haven't noticed- there's one handy, Jones."
"Oh, I've noticed alright. She's a helluva woman, brave and beautiful. Tough as nails, but sweet and tender, too. Not to mention" one big hand reached around to squeeze it appreciatively, "that she's still got a great arse. She's certainly more than this sorry s.o.b deserves. He doesn't dare hope that she still loves him, but she seems to understand him pretty well."
"Well, there have been a few bumpy roads between them, but she's still kinda fond of the big dope."
"He's not as big a dope as all that."
"No?"
"It's the D. Phil. Even this guy's managed to figure out that since we looted those Russian jeeps, there are enough blankets to go around. None of us have to double up if we don't want to."
"That so?"
"Yeah, it is. And since the guy can't help but notice that he's still got a sweet armful every night, he was sorta hoping…"
Marion was smiling, now. "He was sorta hoping what, Jones?"
"That the beautiful lady might be warming up to him, a little. She sure keeps him nice and warm...
"Hmmm. The fella's hands have getting pretty friendly, under those blankets. She hasn't slapped him yet, has she?"
"No she hasn't," said Indy consideringly, "but he's worried that she might, -she packs a helluva right. Maybe she understands that the guy's only human. Can't blame a fella with his heart's desire in his arms for wanting to get a little closer to her, can you?"
"So how close did this guy think he wanted to get?"
Indy rolled over so she was pinned under his full weight.
"If the lady happened to be willing, and the guy thought he could make her happy," he dropped his mouth to her ear "the lucky bastard would be buried in her. To the hilt. Right now."
Her thighs parted beneath his and her arms went around his neck.
"She hasn't said no..."
He picked up her hand and kissed the fingers, one by one.
"Oh, but he wants to hear'yes.' He dropped a kiss into her palm. "No, that's not true. What he really wants to hear is 'please, Indy.' Preferably with both of them a little more naked."
"They could go take a soak in that nice warm water-and they'd both be a lot more naked when they got out."
"They would be, wouldn't they? Well, as much as I hate to get up, it may be worth it…" Indy rose to his feet and helped Marion to hers. "C'mon, Shoulder High."
He kept her hands in his and stood facing her, eyes dancing. "Gonna need a few less clothes before we get in, darling."
Marion's hand went to her top button, and she looked at him, suddenly serious.
"I've gotten older, too, Indy"
"The only thing you could have gotten," he said firmly, "is more beautiful. Let me." Indy put one arm around her and undid her buttons, one by one. He pushed the blue blouse off her shoulders and brought a hand over her lacy bra to stroke one full breast.
"Mmmm' he said. "Now I've got a problem."
"Yeah, what's that?"
"Need both hands to get my boots off. But I don't want to let go."
"You are a big dope." She gave him a playful shove "Get a move on, Jones"
"Yes, ma'am" he said, and bent to his laces.
***The M -rated outtake posted as Water of Life begins here****
"Sometime later, Indy was bonelessly relaxed, floating in postcoital Nirvana with his sweet baby in his arms. With an effort, he lifted his head.
"Mmm…you know that lonely fella we were talking about?"
"What about him?"
"He's an idiot."
"Nothin' new there, Jones."
"He should have known, all along ...that the only thing he needed was the woman he loves…"
"The one who loves him. In spite of everything"
"His woman" Indy's arms tightened possessively.
"Yes..."
Indy was fading fast "Oh, my sweet baby," he murmured sleepily, "…love you so….."
Marion's bright eyes stung with tears, and there was a lump in her throat the size of a grapefruit, but she managed to whisper something she hadn't said in 20-odd years. Except, perhaps, in her dreams. "Love you too, Indy. Love you too."
