On the third day of her visit, Abner finally lets me show Carrie around the tomb.

As bouncy as ever, my best friend is clearly awed by the size and volume of the tomb. She also finds it amusing when all the workers yell, "Pitcher Girl!" as we walk by.

"And this is where Oxley found the headpiece." I explain, indicating a large nook in the wall.

Carrie lets out a soft, "Oh" beside me.

"So, that concludes our tour. The gift shop is to your left on the way out. Please come again soon." I finish, mocking a tour guide with accurate precision. Carrie bursts into applause as I curtsy.

"What do we do now?" I ask, leading her out of the catacombs back into the hot sun.

"Do you think your dad would let you show me around Cairo?" Carrie inquires, her eyes shining with more excitement than usual.

"I don't know." I say slowly, before turning over my shoulder and hollering, "Hey Abner! Can I take Carrie around the city?"

"As long as Indy can accompany you." My father compromises jovially, as if he hasn't noticed the absolute silence between Jones and I over the last couple weeks.

I see Indy raise his head at the sound of his name, and I can't help but groan out loud. I turn back to Carrie and mouth, "No. Freaking. Way."

She silently pleads, getting down on her knees and clasping her hands, her blue eyes clear pools of water as she tries to persuade me. We both know that I'm touchy and sensitive around the subject of a certain cocky Archaeologist.

I roll my eyes and scoff, finally giving in. "Fine, but you owe me big time."

She jumps up and throws her arms around my neck. "We're going on a field trip! I call shot-gun!" She squeals, sprinting towards the car.

"Get in Jones, we're going window shopping!" I holler, revving up the engine and Carrie hops in next to me.

I don't bother to look in the rear view mirror for Jones as I feel a soft thump in the seat behind me. I look over at Carrie and grin. "Are you ready?"

She is practically shaking as she grips the seat in exultation. "Ready."

I floor it, not even bothering to wonder if there's a speed limit in this desert. We speed along the dirt road, dunes flying past us as I continue to accelerate.

"Isn't this GREAT?!" I yell at the inhabitants of the car. Carrie screams happily in reply, throwing her arms up in the air and as I dare to glance back at Jones, I can tell he's gripping the door handle in terror. To him, it probably looks like I've finally gone off the deep end.

Which I kind of have.

When we get to Cairo, I park the car in an alleyway, take Carrie's hand and lead her through the bustling streets, Indy trailing behind.

We eat lunch in a dingy little cafe, me having ignored Indy's useless request to go to the Siren's Lair. Carrie seems content with everything, laughing and smiling at every little thing she sees.

The three of us remain in Cairo for the rest of the day, going into every single shop that looks interesting. We even walk by the Siren's Lair, and I allow Carrie to peek into the window, just so I can see her disgusted face when she catches sight of what the waitresses dress like.

It's a pretty fun and entertaining day, though the constant presence of Indiana Jones really is a downer for me. I know Carrie sees this, and though she says nothing of it, I know that the gears in her evil brain are turning whenever Indy and I so much as make eye contact.

Arm in arm, Carrie and I walk down the alleyway back towards our car. We're singing some opera ballad at the top of our lungs, laughing hysterically as the sun sinks below the mountains and the sky begins to fade to black. Indy is about ten feet behind us, hands shoved in his pockets as he shuffles along the street.

Carrie suddenly stops walking and singing, gripping my arm with supremely unexpected strength as her eyes are locked on something in front of us.

"What is it?" I ask, not sure why I'm whispering. When Carrie doesn't appear to hear me, I follow her gaze to the car and then I see it. Someone is in our car. And its not me. Or Carrie. Or Indy.

I turn and find that neither Carrie nor Indy are in the alleyway anymore.

Odd...

A pair of hands pull me into a tiny crevice between two buildings. I'm building up a high pitched scream but choke it down when I see two pairs of eyes, one blue and one hazel.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" I demand at the top of my voice.

Indy is trying to shush me without the use of English language. Carrie is beside him, looking quite petrified.

"Why is someone is our car? Why are we hiding? Why are you...mmph!" My voice is muffled as Jones suddenly leaps forward and smothers my voice with his rough hands. I'm about to retaliate and gratefully punch his lights out, when a harsh voice sounds from the main alley.

"WHO'S THERE?"

It's not a voice I recognize, so I stop struggling and shut up. I'm unable to move my position anyways, seeing as Indy is leaning against me, covering my mouth, his eyes boring deep into mine.

The rush of emotions I've been denying for the last two weeks gradually begin to leak back into my mind, Once again I'm unable to breath, both because my body seems temporarily frozen and because Jones' hand is covering both my mouth and nose.

Unlike I have in the past, I can't seem look away from him. And he's just so CLOSE.

I'm starting to see black spots before my eyes, knowing that if he doesn't let go, I'll faint.

A trickle of footsteps down the alleyway seems to be the signal for safety and when Indy releases me, I fall to the ground, gasping for air. Indy strides past me and stalks towards the car. I glare angrily after him as Carrie wordlessly helps me up. We walk over to the automobile to find Indy already in the driver's seat, starting the engine.

"Get in." He growls.

I do it without hesitation. I want to sit next to him just so I can yell at him. I'm ready to chew him out, but he beats me to it.

"What the hell were you doing?" He practically shouts, driving slowly out of the alleyway.

"What was I doing?" I yell back, feeling the heat rise up quickly to my cheeks despite the rolled down window. "You were the one you yanked me and my best friend into a side alley and tried to suffocate me!"

He doesn't answer, so I continue to plow on. "Someone had broken in the car! I thought you were a defender Jones, but you are always surprising me, pulling us into a side alley to hide, how cowardly."

I know I have hit a nerve when he turns with a grimace, his voice deadly quiet. "They had guns on them, Marion." He explains bluntly.

"Prove it." I challenge.

With a shrug, he hands me two bullet shells. They are still hot.

"So what does this tell us? They didn't take the car, so whats all the fuss?" I snap.

Indy's face contorts as he holds back what is probably a really nasty retort. "They were looking for something."

I share a suspicious glance with Carrie, whose eyes are wide as they dart back and forth between Jones and I.

"For what, exactly?" I ask waspishly, anger still bubbling within me.

He reaches in his rucksack and pulls out a glinting pendant with a ruby in the middle. "The headpiece."

I'm silent for a minute, trying to find a different reason to attack verbally.

"You didn't have to suffocate me though." I inform him, glaring at the door.

"If you would only shut up without me having to do it for you." He snapped back, looking just as equally angry.

"I can take care of myself."

"No you can't."

"Can too."

"Marion!" He grabs my hand in a vice-like grip. "Don't be childish at the moment, now is not the time."

"Well, schedule me an appointment, will you?" I say sarcastically, failing to get my hand OUT of his.

Carrie is staring at the both of us with such attention you'd think we were some volcano just waiting to erupt.

"Will you stop treating me with such distaste?" He asks angrily.

"Will you stop being such an arrogant ass?" I ask back, glaring over at him.

He looks down at our hands, that are somehow perfectly entwined. Our eyes meet and I have a feeling we're thinking along the same lines; HELL. NO. He lets mine go as if its on fire.

"No more field trips." He grumbles as we pull up to the camp, staring moodily out the window.

"Have it your way." I snap, walking to my tent.

Never again will I fall for the pity act of Carrie Smithers.

Let me know of any typos, because I'm sure I missed some while editing this thing. Well, this chapter was definitely long enough, over the word limit, I'm sure. 1,604 words to be exact!

Omg, over 20,000 hits on this story! I'm going to cry, you guys all eternally rock!

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