It's nearly dark and I'm still up in this stupid tree. It's no longer my favorite place. My bum is sore and my throat is parched.

I lean over the side to see if Jones is still there. He is, but he's asleep at the foot of the tree. He is snoring lightly and I can't help but cackle evilly inside at the sound of his snuffling. Perfect blackmail material.

I decide after a while of pondering to get down from the tree without using the ladder. Just to be daring, you know. I begin to inch forward down my branch, gripping the tree as tight as possible. About halfway down (I'm still a good ten or fifteen feet off the ground) I began to relax a little and loosen my grip. But the minute I do so, my feet slip out from under me and I'm suddenly hanging from the tree with nothing but Earth below me.

I may have a parched throat but I can still scream a hell of a lot. I let it all out, as loud as I possibly can, my feet dangling above the hard ground ten to fifteen feet beneath me.

But as soon as I think I'm done for, Jones is standing underneath me, arms outstretched and face panicked.

"Marion! Let go! I've got you!" He shouts.

"Don't call me Marion!" I scream back, trying to keep from panicking myself.

"Just let go!" He calls.

"Like hell I will!" I reply, refusing to fall into the arms of my sworn enemy. It's not that I don't think he'll be able to catch me because of my weight (like I said, I'm a stick.) but I just have the vaguest feeling that at the last minute he'll take a step back and let me crash and die, just to get me out of the way so he can continue his conquest of the world.

My grip is slipping and my hands are all sweaty and now I begin to panic.

Before I make myself change my mind, I take a leap of faith, releasing my hands and plummeting down to the ground, screaming all the while. My short life is flashing before my eyes and I realize that I never got to say goodbye to Abner.

I'm going to die.

I'm dead.

I must be dead.

But oddly enough, I never feel my neck brake as I smash into the Earth. Instead, I feel two arms supporting me.

I grip my savior, not caring who it is and bury my face in their shirt. I'm shaking, I'm so scared.

"Jesus, Ravenwood." I hear a voice mutter slightly above my head.

I open my eyes and my find myself looking directly up at Jones.

While sitting IN HIS ARMS LIKE A FREAKING DAMSEL IN DISTRESS!

In my moment of post-terror, I'm at a loss for words, so I simply stare at him. I notice something that I didn't notice before.

His hair isn't slicked back today. I find that it's light brown, like the color of toasted wheat bread and is messy and tussled. It's not too long and not too short. I feel an abrupt urge to run my fingers through it. I stare at it for a few seconds, and then realize that I'm still holding myself to him and quaking in fear.

"Are you alright?" He asks, setting me down on my own two feet, on which I wobble uncertainly like a new born calf.

"I'm fine." I say shakily, trying to steady my erratic breathing.

And don't be calling me over dramatic, I just nearly fell to my death. I was supposed to die. But then we've got Mr. Prince Charming here coming to save the day and I just don't know what to say to that.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asks again, lifting my chin up uncertainly.

I look up at him for a split second and then do the thing that I've been doing quite a lot of lately.

I run away.

I don't go anywhere in particular. I just go. I run down the streets of Chicago U., my bare feet getting burned on the hot pavement. I run into the local cafe and order an ice-cream soda.

I sit there at the counter, fiddling with the corner of my blouse. That was annoyingly convenient, that he just happened to be there to catch me. What if he hadn't? What if he gave up and went inside and I fell and died or became paralyzed?

I realize now that despite all the horrible damage he's done to me, in just three days of knowing him I already owe Indiana Jones my life.

It would have been simpler if he had just dropped me.

A/N: Reviews don't write themselves people!! You want more shorts I need at least ten reviews!!