Iccle fairy, they do get moving in this one—there's more action ahead, I promise.

Ellen, they will have their chat, but... don't expect it all to get worked out right away. (Mwa ha ha... have to drag out the angst, you know!)

Thanks to everyone following the story. :D This longer chapter should make up for the last one, which was short.

Note: I'm not terribly familiar with South American geography, and I really wasn't able to follow it too closely when I watched the movie, so forgive me if I have the party a few hundred miles off course! :p

Indy, Mutt, Marion and Ox still don't belong to me, and Indy wants to know why on earth you would ever think they did. He also asks that you review when you're done!

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A DIFFERENT STORY

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Just as Indy had predicted, Mutt felt warmer that night than he had since their first night in South America. When Indy came to wake him, he did not want to return to consciousness.

"No," he muttered. "Leave me alone..."

"I would, but it's your turn to keep watch," Indy responded.

Mutt rolled over and sighed. "Yeah. OK. I'm awake." He slowly forced himself to sit up and stretch.

"I wanted to talk to you," Indy said.

Well, that's straight-forward, Mutt thought. First Mom, now the old man. "What about?" he asked warily.

"About your mother."

Mutt bit his tongue. He tugged the jaguar skin closer to the fire and made room for Indy to sit beside him.

"I know you didn't want to have any more major discussions about this before we got home," Indy began, "but I'd like to reopen the topic if I may."

When the silence became too uncomfortable, Mutt said, "OK."

"The thing is, I don't want Marion to think I'm going to just enjoy her company here and then run off as soon as we're back in the States. But I can't really make any plans until you and I come to terms."

Mutt slapped at a mosquito. "Why not? I mean... if I flat-out told you that you couldn't come around after this, would you really listen to me?"

"I certainly wouldn't ignore it. I love Marion, but I'm not going to marry her at the expense of your respect."

"So, you're sure you want to marry her?"

"Yes."

This was not a very welcome development, in Mutt's opinion. "Look, Clyde, this is why I didn't want to talk about it. It's too soon, OK?"

"Clyde?" Indy sounded puzzled.

"If you're asking permission to propose, I don't know what to say. I... I think that would make her happy. So, if you're gonna do it, just do it, all right?"

"I'm just asking you to think about it. You don't have to decide now."

Mutt pulled out his comb and distractedly ran it through his hair. "I don't know what you want, man. You say you want to marry her, I say do it, now you tell me not to decide yet... what the heck do you want?"

"Hey, hey... take it easy. You're not on trial." Indy put a hand on Mutt's shoulder.

Mutt didn't particularly care for the contact, but he let it slide.

"I guess one thing I want is for you to know that I do want to marry your mother. Another thing is that I don't want that to cause friction between you and me—or you and her. It's not just a marriage I want, it's a family. The three of us."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Mutt said, breathing hard and combing faster than ever.

"I was part of a family once," Indy said firmly. "I think I know what I'm getting into."

"Oh, sure, you had parents. But you've never had a kid. What do you know about raising kids—especially ones that are almost done being raised anyway?"

"I know that they have very strong opinions, for one thing," Indy said, half smiling in the fire's glow. "And that they get ignored far too much. I haven't been able to help in raising you so far, but I would really like the chance to try."

"I'm not sure I want to be your experiment, Dr. Weird."

Indy chuckled. "You're a bit young to remember that program, aren't you?"

"Ox told me about it," Mutt explained simply. "He used to retell the stories for me on dark and stormy nights."

A high-pitched growl sounded from nearby. Mutt lowered his comb and looked nervously around the edge of the firelight, but he couldn't make anything out. "What's that?" he asked.

"Scavengers fighting over the jaguar carcass," Indy answered calmly. After another stretch of silence, he said, "Like it or not, we're going to be together a few more days, at least. Maybe this can be our 'experiment.'"

"We don't really have a laboratory environment to work in. I think things will be very different once we're back on home turf."

"Yes, they probably will. But if we work at it now, it will be easier later."

Mutt took a deep breath. He didn't want to make the offer he was about to, but he wanted his mother's happiness above anything. "Maybe we don't have to. I could move out of Mom's house within a year, I think. Then you wouldn't have to worry about me."

"I want to worry about you. And I don't want you to move out in a year."

Mutt searched for stray pieces of hair to comb down, but they were all in place.

"I know you didn't ask for the parents you got," Indy went on. "It's not your fault and it's not fair that you're in such a spot. But this time you do get to choose. What I really need before I can propose to your mother in good conscience is your permission—not just to marry her, but to be your father."

Mutt's breath caught in his throat. I don't need a father! his mind screamed at him. He realized he was sweating, even though the night was cool.

"All I want from you now is your word that you'll think about it."

"I have thought about it," Mutt choked out. "How could I not think about it?" When Indy did not take the opportunity to interrupt, he went on. "But I'm no closer to an answer. You're a nice guy, Pops. I just don't know if I can..." He stopped, not sure what he had been going to say.

The hand on Mutt's shoulder tightened.

"All right. I'm sorry I pressured you. Believe it or not, my goal is not to make this harder."

"Word from the bird?" Mutt mumbled.

"If that's like 'cross your heart' then, yeah."

Mutt nodded. All he wanted now was for Indy to change the subject or, better yet, go away. "You should get to sleep," he said stiffly. "Morning's not far off."

"I know." Indy got to his feet. "Don't worry about the weird noises," he said. "But if you see anything, feel free to wake me."

"OK." Mutt held his breath until Indy turned away from him. He ran his comb through his hair one last time before putting it away.

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The next morning, Marion reminded Indy that he had promised to show them smoke signals before they left.

"Oh darn; you remembered," Indy said with a smile. He put chunks of rotten wood on the fire and waited until there was a good stream of smoke. "Bring the pelt over, Junior," he called to Mutt.

Mutt didn't feel like doing anything with Indy just then, but he didn't want his mother to suspect that anything was wrong. He took the jaguar skin to the professor.

Indy took one end and backed up a step or two. "All right, we'll put the hide over the fire to make a break in the smoke..."

They did, and the heavy smoke rolled out lazily from under the tanned hide.

"Now take it off."

By alternating a few seconds on and a few off, Indy created three separate plumes of smoke. "That's the only one I remember," he confessed. "Three of anything is a Boy Scout distress signal. Like SOS."

"That's wonderful," Marion said with a grin. "Do it again."

Indy rolled his eyes. "We really need to get going."

"Just once more?"

"Just like old times," Indy muttered. "OK, fine."

When Marion was satisfied, Mutt withdrew the jaguar hide and shook it out before slinging it over his shoulder.

Indy knocked the fire apart with a stick and trampled the embers to put them out. "Did everyone get a good drink?" he asked. "We might not see water again for a while."

The others answered in the affirmative and they continued down the trail.

"You know, Henry," Ox said, "if we bear more southward, we should find our way to Rio Branco."

"Leave the trail?" said Indy. "I don't want to end up in Bolivia, Ox."

"I thought we were trying to get back to Peru?" Mutt put in, thinking of his motorcycle. He hoped desperately that it was where he had left it.

"It's a long walk to Peru, kid. We'll need to find transportation if we can. Which means civilization as soon as possible."

"So... this Rio Branco is a town?"

"Yes."

"So, let's go that way." Mutt avoided Indy's eyes. He hoped Marion was not getting suspicious.

"All right," Indy said at last. "We'll make for Rio Branco, as soon as we can get a positive bearing on our position."

Getting a "positive bearing" turned out to take a little trouble Mutt hadn't counted on. Indy said the first step was for "someone" to climb the tallest tree they could find.

"Be careful," Marion pleaded from below.

"I'm fine, Mom," Mutt called back in annoyance. He was glad to get up out of the forest for a little while. He noticed a hanging vine about halfway through his climb, but he knew he would get yelled at by both his parents if he tried swinging from it.

As he got into the slimmer, more leafy branches near the top, Mutt thought how fresh the air seemed after the humidity under the canopy. He glanced up toward the sun, which was half hidden in clouds, and then looked all around him.

The trip down was much less enjoyable than the climb up had been. And if Mutt was honest with himself, it was a little scarier, too. But he made it down safely.

"I hope you don't have to do that ever again," Marion complained.

"I couldn't let one of you old-timers go."

"What's the news?" Ox inquired.

"River a ways to the south," Mutt reported. A couple of miles, maybe."

"That'll be the Rio Acre," Indy said. "If we follow that west, we should be able to find Rio Branco."

"Should be able to?"

"Assuming we're not already too far west, in which case we could be wandering around for quite some time."

"Well," Ox said cheerfully, "I'm for the south. Shall we?"

They turned off the trail and Indy led the way, hacking occasionally at vegetation with the rapier he was still carrying for Mutt.

"You know," Marion said a little later, "we haven't heard from Hercules in a while. Did he give up?"

"Not a chance," Indy answered.

Mutt wasn't really in the mood, but he tried to listen as Indy began telling the seventh labor of Hercules.

"Eurystheus sent Hercules to capture the Cretan Bull," Indy began. "The king there, Minos, was happy to get rid of it because it had been causing a lot of trouble. Hercules didn't really do anything clever to catch it—just half-strangled it and shipped it off to Athens."

"There is an alternate tale—" Ox began.

"Yeah, yeah," Indy said, clearly annoyed. "Some people say that the seventh labor was actually to kill the Cretan Minotaur. But I think that really takes away from Theseus' story, so let's not go there."

"Who's Theseus?" Mutt asked, not really interested, but knowing Marion would be wondering if he was all right if he didn't say something soon.

"Oh, another Greek hero. It's a different story entirely."

"OK."

"So Eurystheus was going to sacrifice the bull to Hera," Indy continued. "But as we know, Hera hated Hercules. She didn't want the sacrifice because the capture of the bull had made Hercules look good, and she wanted nothing to do with it."

"Let me guess," said Mutt. "They let it go."

"That's right."

Mutt pasted on a smile for his mother's benefit. But he knew his eyes told a different story. She could always tell when something was bothering him. It was only a matter of time before she found out what.

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Like it? Please let me know! This story has really gotten bigger than I ever meant it to, but I'm enjoying the journey. :)