White Out
White Out
By Andie O'Neill
Summary: Indiana Jones' biggest regret is about to be erased.
A/N: I knew you guys would love the Elsa/Marion issue! Thanks guys for the reviews, keep em coming! They give me fuel! This chapter will be VERY MUCH in line with the story, with Marion's two cents here and there. I'm making it a pretty long chapter, so enjoy. Sadly it'll be a few days before the next chapter is posted! I'm going on vacation for the rest of the week, so I won't be able to work on chapter seven until after I get back! Hopefully this will tie you over till then! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own it… but I certainly wish I did!
Part Six
Doctor Elsa Schneider was just as beautiful as Indiana remembered. She was graceful, and full of confidence. She was all woman. The last time he'd met her he hadn't been able to think of anything else. Brody had described his behavior as 'drunk,' though Indy hadn't agreed. She was alluring, like a siren calling sailors to their demise. Marion Ravenwood, although just as beautiful, had a bit more bite. She was tough as nails, physically and mentally. Marion made it obvious that she hadn't had a female influence like Elsa. Her mother had died while Marion was still young, leaving Abner to raise his daughter alone. They were two very different people, yet in the past Indy had been attracted to both for two very different reasons. Elsa was a beautiful woman, physically appealing. Marion was brash at the best of times, yet showed an inner confidence and kindness not many could match. Although rough around the edges, Marion had owned his heart from the very beginning. Elsa's edges had always been smooth, but the only thing she'd ever owned was… well, not his heart.
"The last time I saw your father we were in the library. He was very close to tracking down the knight's tomb," Elsa told him as they walked down the streets of Venice. "I've never seen him so excited. He was as giddy as a schoolboy."
Indy still wished he'd been there for that. "He was never giddy, even when he was a schoolboy," he said in amusement, earning a glare from Marion.
As they were walking past a street vender selling flowers, Indy reached out and stole a single flower as he'd done years ago, only instead of giving it to the lovely Elsa; he presented it to Marion with a cocky grin. Elsa didn't seem to notice as Marion rolled her eyes and tucked the flower behind her ear. It complimented her perfectly. Schneider was still talking, but Indy wasn't paying attention as he stared at Ravenwood. He knew she felt threatened by Elsa, and Indy wanted to reassure her. He knew she still expected him to run off once more, but he wasn't about to put Marion through that again. He wanted them to be a family. Marion knew his reputation with woman, and Indy had a feeling he would have his work cut out for him.
"I have something to show you." Elsa pulled a slip of paper from her jacket pocket, and handed it to Indy. "I left your father working in the library. He sent me to the map section to fetch an ancient plan of the city. When I got back to his table, he'd gone, with all his papers except for that scrap, which I found near his chair."
Indy only needed to glance at it. He already knew what was written on the paper, and handed it over for Marion to see. "Roman numerals," he spoke out loud.
"Here is the library," she told them, walking toward the entrance. The building looked more like a church than a library, the white marble and tall columns were just as he remembered.
"That doesn't look much like a library," said Marion.
Indy smiled. "Looks like a converted church," he added.
Elsa led them both inside. "In this case it's the literal truth. We are on holy ground." As they walked inside Indy noticed the marble floor he'd seen before. There were aisles and aisles of tall bookshelves, before they stopped by a stained-glass window with two giant marble columns on each side of the beautiful creation. "These columns over here were brought back as spoils of war after the sacking of Byzantium during the Crusades."
Indy wasn't paying attention, was too focused on memories of the past. Although at the time Elsa had been quite the distraction, he still remembered the medieval décor from a time long gone, a time filled with knights and battles supposedly between good and evil.
"Now, please excuse me. The library is closing in a few moments. I'll arrange for us to stay a little longer." Elsa walked off, and Indy could hear the faint sounds of her heels clacking. He stared down at the marble under his feet and remembered the X that wasn't suppose to mark the spot, or at least that's what he'd taught his students long ago… in another life.
"I've seen this window before… in my father's journal," he told Marion, flipping through the pages until he saw his father's illustration of the stained glass window above him. He handed Marion the diary.
"Indy… the Roman numerals!" she immediately pointed out before looking back at the window.
Indy nodded.
"But what does it all mean?" Ravenwood asked him, as if he had all the answers.
Luckily, he did. Indy could hear by her steps, that Elsa was returning. "Dad sent me this diary for a reason, Marion. Until we find out why, I think we should keep its existence to ourselves." He took back his father's diary and hid it in his pocket.
"Find something?" Elsa asked as she walked next to Indiana.
"Dad wasn't looking for a book about the knight's tomb, he was looking for the tomb itself," he explained. "You said it yourself, it used to be a church. Look." He pointed at the Roman numerals on the window. "Three." He then pointed to the marble column to the left. "Three." Once again he pointed to the window. "Seven," he spoke, and then pointed to the other column. "Seven."
"What about the ten? I don't see it, do you?" Marion pointed out, looking around the library.
Indy looked back down at the floor, before he made his way toward the staircase as he had before and pointed down at the floor. "Ten," he showed them once he'd reached the top. "X marks the spot."
"You don't disappoint, Doctor Jones," Elsa told him in wonder. "You're a great deal like your father."
Indy stared down at the hole he'd created in the beautiful marble floor of the library. He knew Elsa was right. He'd used to believe the truth to be almost a curse, but he'd come to respect his father a great deal after they'd discovered the Grail. He was proud to be like his father, though he'd never actually admit it. "Except he's lost, and I'm not," he said, echoing words he'd said the last time around.
"Lower me down," Elsa requested, as she swung her legs into the hole and raised her arms to Indy.
Indiana threw Marion an assuring smile before lowering Elsa into the darkness. "You're next sweetheart," he told her. The last time he'd left someone behind; poor Brody had received a nasty headache. He wasn't about to leave Marion behind, even if he already knew the danger he'd be putting her in. She was better off with him, than on her own. After lowering Marion into the hole, he jumped down to join the two girls, landing on the mountain of skulls. The smell of decay was just as strong as he'd remembered, though the other girls didn't seem to care. Marion was already exploring the new environment, with Elsa not far behind. Elsa had the same excited smile as last time.
Schneider removed a cigarette lighter from her pocket to get a better look at some markings on the wall. "Pagan symbols," she told him. "Fourth or fifth century."
She knew her stuff… Indy had to give her that. "Right, six hundred years before the Crusades," he told her, moving ahead. There wasn't much time.
"The Christians would have dug their own passages and burial chambers centuries later," Elsa told him.
Indy took her lighter, watching Marion head toward the dark passageway ahead. "If there's a Knight of the First Crusade entombed down here, that's where we'll find him." He tried not to think about the men on their tale, focusing on the discovery ahead of him. He had to let history play out as it was meant to. If he ignored events, he could make things worse for both him and Marion, and he wasn't about to do that.
"What's this one?" Schneider asked him, pointing to an image on the wall.
"The Ark of the Covenant," he told her, smiling at Marion who had the same amused look.
"Are you sure?" Elsa questioned, obviously missing the silent exchange between him and Ravenwood.
"Oh, he's sure," Marion assured her as the pressed on ahead.
As they reached what looked like a dead end, Indy handed Elsa back her lighter, brushing away some of the cobwebs to reveal the Roman numeral X. "Watch out," he warned and rammed his shoulder into the wall. The stones immediately began to loosen as before. He rammed the wall once more and it collapsed, making him fall into the next chamber. He winced as the familiar smell surrounded him. "Petroleum. I could sink a well down here and retire." He stood back up, dripping in the filthy liquid. Indy grabbed a bone from one of the skeletons, wrapping old cloth from the same skeleton around the bone. He soaked the end of the make-shift torch in the bubbling pool before turning back to look at Elsa. "Hand me your lighter," he commanded her. Once she had given him the lighter, he lit the torch and led them onward. It wasn't long before they reached the best part of their little journey and he couldn't help the tired sigh. "Oh rats."
Elsa gasped. Marion groaned.
Indy pulled Marion to him, while Elsa squirmed and squealed, grabbing hold of his jacket, stumbling here and there in her high heel shoes. He knew both Elsa and Marion were terrified, but they had to move forward. The next passage was just as rat infested, but Elsa had gained back her nerve and was able to move ahead without assistance. Marion on the other hand, didn't seem to want to let go. First snakes, then rats, anytime she went on an adventure with him, Marion was forced past her limits. Indy climbed onto one of the narrow ledges, helping Marion get on behind him. Elsa took the ledge on the other side. It seemed like ages before the ledges ended and Indy was forced back into the mucky waters. He immediately helped both women down and led them to the large burial chamber ahead. Elsa was admiring the coffins as she joined him in the chamber. "Look at the artistry of these carvings and the scrollwork."
At the end of the chamber was a single coffin, the knight's coffin. Like the others it was decorated, with carvings on each side. Elsa immediately walked over to the coffin to examine it. "It's this one!" she announced, beaming with excitement.
Indy held the torch as high as he could, and climbed up beside Elsa. Together they gripped the lower edge of the lid and shoved it off to reveal the decayed skeleton beneath. Buried inside was a sword and a shield, the marker they were looking for.
"This is it!" he told her. "We've found it!" He immediately handed Elsa the torch and climbed over the coffin, pulling out the folded parchment in his pocket.
"What's that?" Elsa asked.
"A rubbing Dad made of the Grail tablet," he told her and aligned the two designs till they matched. Indy then pulled out a drawing stick from his pocket and rubbed it over the parchment, back and forth till the marker was complete. Despite seeing it before, Jones couldn't help the content smile that appeared on his face as he looked at the history he'd uncovered.
"Just like your father… as giddy as a schoolboy," Elsa spoke with amusement. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if he were here now to see this?"
Indy shook his head, laughing at the mental imagine her words brought to mind. "He never would have made it past the rats. He hates rats. He's scared to death of them."
Marion raised an eyebrow at that. "Is the fear of disagreeable creatures a family trait?" she teased, obviously thinking of Henry the third.
Indy shrugged, folding up the parchment. He didn't have time to answer the question. As he climbed back off the coffin the three heard what sounded like a distant explosion. The noise grew louder and Indy immediately noticed the rats begin to pour into the chamber. 'Here we go,' he thought to himself. "Get back! Back against the wall!" he instructed them both. Once they did as told he shoved the entire coffin over, emptying what lied inside. "Quick! Under it! Air pocket!" As he shouted to the two, flames began to fill the chamber, and they quickly ducked under and into the water. With a gasp the three resurfaced under the coffin. "Don't wander off," he shouted to the two before he took a deep breath and went back under, looking for the passage that would save their lives.
"Ah, Venice," Indy said, as he crawled out of the storm drain in the middle of a café. After helping both Marion and Elsa out he took Marion's hand and ran down an alley between two buildings and toward the pier where he knew the motorboats would be. He didn't waste time, jumping into the boat after releasing it from the pier. He slid behind the steering wheel started the engine. Just as the boat pulled away, one of the men in pursuit jumped onto the boat just as before. He immediately accelerated, weaving back and forth in the hopes of shaking him off. The other men stole two identical boats, hot on his trail. They were going full speed when he had Marion take the wheel, flinging himself at the man on the boat's stern.
While Indy's hands were full, fighting the uninvited guest on their boat, he noticed the tugboat and the outer freighter ahead. "Go between them!" he shouted, knowing they would be just fine.
"Go between them?!" shouted Elsa in shock.
"Are you crazy?!" added Marion. She kept on course, heading for the narrow gap between the freighters.
Indiana pulled up the not so mysterious attacker and hit him hard enough to send the guy flying off the boat. They raced through the gap just as Indy took back the wheel from Marion. The moment they had cleared the gap Indiana gave the women a knowing grin. The other boats behind, weren't as lucky, and were crushed between the much more massive freighters. "Duck!" Jones shouted moments later as gunfire hit their boat. One last boat was still in pursuit just as before. Indiana leaped from his boat, attacking the two men, anticipating each punch thanks to his intact memories. Soon only one was left as he was flipped into the boat's rear compartment.
"Indee!" shouted Marion as she took back control of the boat.
Indiana knew the boat he was currently in was about to be dashed into pieces. His fist connected with the man beneath him. "I'm not here for the Grail!" he shouted at the man. "I'm here for my father!"
"If you don't let go, Doctor Jones, we'll both die."
Indiana knew he needed the man alive. His people would soon gather an assault against the Nazis, to stop them from recovering the Grail. He pulled him up from the cockpit and together they dived into the passenger compartment behind Marion and Elsa. Kazim… that was his name. Indy played along regardless.
"If you let me go I will tell you where your father is," Kazim bargained.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Kazim," he answered calmly, looking over to their right. "Let me off at this jetty."
Indiana let go of his 'supposed foe,' and took back control of the wheel once more, doing as Kazim had requested.
"As yourself, why do you seek the Cup of Christ? Is it for His glory, or for yours?"
"I didn't come for the Cup of Christ. I came to find my father," Indiana assured him. Although in the end he knew he'd be forced to find the Cup, he wasn't lying to Kazim. He didn't care about the Cup… he cared about his father.
'In that case, God be with you in your quest," he said as he buttoned his jacket, leaving the boat once it had come to a complete stop. "Your father is being held in the Castle of Brunwald on the Austrian-German border." He left just as soon as the words were spoken.
They'd returned to the apartment that Walter Donovan kept in Venice, eager to scrub the grim and smell from their trip in the catacombs. Indiana had spent over an hour scrubbing off the stench of petroleum. He knew where the Grail was, though he hadn't needed the second marker to find out. He'd known all along where it lied. Although some things would remain the same, Indy knew he'd have to keep a close eye on Elsa… she was after all, working for the Nazis. Although he knew she would eventually have a change of heart, she was still dangerous. This time around he would continue to keep his father's diary a secret. He would have to get a hold of Shallah, and inform his old friend that he had a job for him once more.
After shutting off the water he pulled on the green robe, hearing the faint sound of a phonograph playing from Elsa's room. The moment he left the bathroom he knew what he would find in bedroom, but was thankful Elsa hadn't found what she was looking for. He'd kept the Grail diary safely tucked away in the bathroom while he'd taken his shower. Just as was expected the bedroom was completely trashed. "Oh God! Indy!" said a voice from behind.
Indiana turned around to see Marion, wearing a silky light blue bathrobe. "Yours too?" he asked her.
Marion nodded, walking into the ransacked room. Their room was adjacent, along with Elsa's, but he didn't think to check on her this time around. He already knew she was just fine. "What were they looking for?" Marion asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Indy pulled his father's journal from his pocket. "This."
Marion didn't look happy. "First your hotel room, and now here too? It's obvious someone wants that book pretty bad. They may still be in the apartment!"
Indy shook his head. "No, they're gone," he assured her, choosing not to tell her about Elsa.
Marion suddenly looked away. "Uh… what about Elsa? Have you checked to see if her room is in shambles too?"
Indiana smiled, knowing Marion was still a bit jealous of Elsa. She was after all, quite beautiful. "No, I wouldn't know, but I'm sure she's just fine. Whoever went through our rooms obvious wasn't interested in kidnapping." Indy walked over behind Marion, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Marion immediately turned around. "You know, most men would find her pretty attractive. She looks like one of those women in the movies… blonde hair, good figure…" she trailed off, looking up at him.
Indy shrugged, pretending to consider her words. "She is rather charming I suppose," he agreed. "Nice legs, I gotta admit."
It of course was the wrong thing to say as he watched Marion huff, glaring at him. "Jesus Indy, drool much?"
He couldn't help but chuckle at the woman before him. "I don't know, Marion. Jealous much?" he shot back. They were falling back into old ways. For some reason, he rather enjoyed it.
Marion rolled her eyes dramatically. "Ha! I wasn't the one practically begging for another chance!"
The comment would normally have his blood boiling, but for some reason it amused him to no end. "And I wasn't the one practically begging to tag along," he reminded her, folding his arms smugly.
"Tag along?! I'm only here to keep your sorry ass alive!" she fought.
"And you're doing quite the job considering the fact that we were nearly incinerated, shot at, and chopped into fish bait," Indy told her without breaking a sweat. For once he was going to win their little argument.
If looks could kill, he'd have died a long time ago. "You are the most arrogant, self-centered, egotistical-"
Indy cut off her rant with a passionate kiss.
Marion immediately pulled away. "I'm not done!" she shouted before kissing him, arms around his neck.
Indy pulled her to the bed, as Marion's kisses moved over to his ear, which she knew was quite sensitive. Outside his opened window was the sound of a gondolier's voice singing a romantic song that echoed up from the canal. With a smile he rolled his eyes in pleasure. "Ah Venice."
To Be Continued….
A/N: Yeah, I kinda like this version much better! lol I'm leaving the rest of this chapter to your imaginations. Oh and I'm not a Doctor, and again, never been pregnant. I'm sure you're supposed to wait a while before having intimate relations, but eh… I couldn't resist. :D