A rush of air, the squawking of chickens, and a face full of feather's brought her out of the delicate sleep she'd managed to fall into. Adrenalin shot through her system before her eyes even had a chance to open and she tripped towards the cockpit. She tore back the curtain even knowing what she would find, two empty chairs and controls poorly driving themselves.
Gut clenching she turned around to where Indy was stirring after she'd pushed herself up off of him. "Indy! The pilots are gone!"
"What?" He blinked like he was having trouble getting his eyes to focus, face contorting into panic as soon as he could see the empty cockpit over her shoulder.
"They must have jumped." Oh yeah, they must have. She certainly didn't know about it beforehand. Nope. It's fine… "Please tell me you know how to fly?"
He jumped up, hopping into one of the empty seats. "No." He said, frantically looking back at her. "Do you?"
"God dammit I hoped you weren't gonna say that."
"How hard can it be? Altimeter, okay. Airspeed, uh, okay…Fuel" He poked at the dropping gauge. "Fuel? Fuel?!" The engines started whining, the gauges quickly dropped, and they watched as the propellers sputtered outside the windows. "I think we've got a big problem."
From behind them, Short Round waved his arms. "Dr. Jones! No more parachutes!"
"Uh…" Indy pushed past her and started looking around the cabin.
Sophia stuck right to him and Shorty was right by her side. She knew what was coming but when Indy grabbed the inflatable boat she thought she'd be sick.
"Shorty! Get our stuff!"
Sure, it seemed like she was apparently living through a movie now, but did that mean realism followed her or did movie physics apply? Cause she was pretty sure the Mythbusters proved the boat wouldn't save them.
There wasn't any time to argue though as Indy grabbed the both of them. "Shorty get in here. Sophia, hold on. Tight!"
Shorty was squished between them and she was pretty sure he couldn't breathe because she was gripping Indy so closely, but it was better than losing either one of them as they fell. It turned out her terrified death grip was a good thing as Indy summarily threw them all out of the plane and pulled the tag on the boat. The wind ripped around them and tossed the raft side to side until it started gliding ever so slightly.
They hit the snowy slope hard and Sophia felt like her teeth would all crack and fall right out of her head before they came to a stop. Then, before anyone could manage to get their head on straight from the fall, they entered into what she'd dub in the future as a demented family sledding trip.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Indy said, relieved for a moment as they ran out of snow and skidded onto dry land.
And then the next drop came, the one she'd forgotten about. Right off the edge of a clif, gliding through the air, and slamming down into rapids. Oh god, the rapids. She couldn't fucking swim. She'd survive falling out of an airplane only to get thrown into rapids and die!
As much as she tried to hold onto the raft her fingers kept slipping on the wet rubber so she wrapped her arms around Indy's and held on for dear life.
It was simultaneously the longest and quickest time of her life and before she knew it they were in calm waters again, falling over on top of each other and trying to come to terms with the batshit crazy thing that had just happened to them. And that was saying a lot since she was finally coming to terms with the fact that she was in a god damned movie.
"I think I'll pass out now if it's all the same to everyone." She groaned, laying her head back against the rim of the raft.
"Might want to check with him." Indy said, sitting up and pressing the palms of his hands together.
She rolled her head back up, wondering why they couldn't have had five more minutes of peace before the village elder showed up. But she followed suit with Indy and Short Round anyway and greeted him in kind.
Indy got the raft to shore and they stumbled up to the man who said only a few words to Indy before he began walking, clearly expecting them to follow.
They went steadily on for several hours, stumbling over rocks and brush as the climate became more and more arid. Short Round was getting tired, granted they all were, but she felt bad for him and eventually tried to take his and Indy's bag for a bit. He stubbornly gave her a stiff look and tried harder to look like it wasn't heavy and awkward for him to carry.
By the late afternoon they finally crested a hill and headed down into the dying village. The villagers flocked around him and Indy grabbed Short Round's hand to keep him close. He didn't seem to expect she'd grab his other hand nervously but he didn't pull away either.
The village elder had sat them down, offered them food that despite its condition they were all glad to have, and told them the story of the lost stone. Indy conversed with them for a while after, making plans for elephants and guides to the palace. Short Round wandered off, exploring the village and Sophia slunk away to a corner by the rocks where she'd feel just a little bit more out of the way.
She knew the whole story, every step and cause and effect that led to the happy ending everyone knew and loved. Indy had to play his part, Short Round his, and she…God she was Willy, wasn't she? She'd been the one to pick up the antidote in her confused state.
Sophia couldn't even venture a guess as to how or why she popped into existence in the middle of the club at that time of all times. Trying to just made her feel like she was going to pass out and that was the last thing she needed.
And then something else occurred to her as she watched Indy saunter over and lean against the rock next to her. If Willy wasn't there, then did that mean she was the love interest of the movie?
"You doin' okay?" He asked casually.
She could've lied and played along but after the last twenty-four hours she'd just had, the energy she'd put towards acting tough was better directed into not crying. She laughed sarcastically instead.
"Look, everything will be fine. They're gonna give us some guides and we'll make a stop at the palace before heading to Delhi and then we can get you back to Shanghai."
He tried to make it sound simple and easy. Just a nice pit stop at a palace. And then it begged the question, where was home for her now? If this wasn't some sort of crazy coma dream, then was she stuck in 1935 in a god damned movie!
"I have no reason to go back to Shanghai. I don't know how the fuck I got to Shanghai!"
He frowned, keying into a deeper problem than just almost dying in a plane crash. "What do you mean you don't know how you got there?" He paused and a thought seemed to come to him. "You know, I was wondering why you were wandering around the club half dressed like that. Did Lao Che have something to do-" He put his hands on his hips and glared into the distance. "I knew that son of a bitch was bad news I just didn't think-"
Wait, did he think she'd been kidnapped or something? "No, I don't think he did anything. I just…" Had no cover story whatsoever for what happened. "Just forget it, you wouldn't believe me anyway."
Intrigued and trying to be protective and charming he sat down with her, his knee brushing against hers. She knew exactly what he was up to but that was another thing she didn't really care about fighting. If she was gonna get thrown into a pit of lava and the consolation prize was flirting with Indiana Jones then she'd take it.
"Try me." He said confidently.
Well, might as well come out with it. Wouldn't get her anywhere anyway. "I'm from eighty years in the future."
He chuckled dismissively and shook his head. "Alright, alright I get it. You don't wanna talk about it."
"I'm telling you the truth."
"Sure. Okay. You're a woman from the future."
"Told you you wouldn't believe me."
"You're right. I don't."
"You won't woo a less ridiculous answer out of me if there isn't one."
He leaned over and looked at her with a glint in his eyes that could've probably charmed the real truth right out of her if she hadn't already told it to him. "Listen, Sophia, if you're in some kind of trouble, I can help."
God she almost wished she was, she wouldn't mind a dashing sort of rescue right about now. "I wish I had a better answer for you, trust me, I do. Maybe by the end of all of this you'll at least try to believe me."
"Sure, doll." He chuckled again and brushed his knuckle under her chin affectionately. "Maybe by the end of all this."
She knew she shouldn't be so frustrated by his lack of faith considering he didn't know her in the slightest and she was giving him what was, by all accounts, a bullshit story. But she was frustrated and his attitude wasn't helping which meant she very suddenly wasn't in the mood for him to try and get her in bed.
Getting up and brushing off her borrowed pants she looked across the village. "I'm gonna go make sure Short Round's not getting into any trouble. I'm sure somebody else around here will have a more believable story for you to ask about."