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Chapter 3: Indiana Jones
Chicago, Illinios, 1926
Marion knew it was him. Out of the six Holy Children, three sets of parents had been immortalised. Chinaza Kawar, Ingfrid Dalen and Catalina Ramon had all spoken to her about it. And they all said "you just know when it's him". And now Marion knew what they were talking about. How many times in your life would you see a complete stranger and feel drawn to him?
Of course, the way he was tasting the skin of some random girl's neck just drove the point home. They had all said the heroes, in the beginning, thought more with their little men when confronted with members of the opposite sex. It was something that Marion had to be sure to cure.
Marion directed her gaze forward and walked right back home. Abner was out – again – by the time she got there. It didn't bother Marion any. She walked into her room and changed. If she was going to meet this guy, who was going to be the love of her life, she wanted to look her best but not be obvious about it.
Marion clipped her hair out of her face and grinned. Perfect. She headed out into the living room and picked up a book. It was hard to focus as she waited though. She was too anxious to see him. Eventually, she gave up. Instead, she started planning what she'd answer the door with, what she'd be like while he was here. About two hours passed before she heard the knock at the door.
Marion stood up and straightened herself out as she went to open it. When she pulled open the door, the same guy from before was standing there. He looked surprised to see her, but not as surprised as he would be in a few seconds.
Marion cut him off before he could say anything. 'You must be Abner's new live-in boy. I hope you've satisfied your itch because Abner's got a "no sex in the house" rule going on. I'm his daughter, Marion.' She stepped aside to let him in.
Abner's new pet stood there, looking at her like she was crazy for a minute or so. Then he smoothed out his features – he really did have a ruggedly handsome face, not that she'd ever tell him that – and stepped inside.
'What's your problem?' he asked her, an air of overconfident arrogance in his voice.
'Who said I have one?' Marion smirked and led him down the passage. 'Your room's this way, just down the corridor from mine.' No point trying to hide that. 'But don't try sneaking in at night. I will hurt you.'
'What makes you think I would?' he asked.
'I saw you necking that girl about two hours ago.'
'Oh.' He chuckled. Clearly, this explained everything to him.
Marion stopped at his door and nodded her head. He grinned. Her knees almost buckled but she managed to hold them straight and not react outwardly. She wondered if it was in her head to be like that because she knew who he'd be to her one day or if it was a natural reaction that she'd have whether she knew or not.
'Thanks.' He went to go in but paused at the door. 'By the way, I'm Indiana Jones.' He went in.
Marion held a straight face and walked into her own room. Only when she had the door shut behind her did she let the silly smile cross her face. Now she could put a name to him. Marion darted over to her bedroom phone. Despite her excitement, she'd have to keep her voice down. She dialled Marie Boiur's number and waited.
Mr. Franco answered. 'Bonjour, Mansion de Boiur.'
'Bonjour monsieur Franco,' Marion said. 'C'est Marion Ravenwood. Est-Marie Boiur il?'
'Oui, mademoiselle Ravenwood. Si vous attendez un instant.'
Marion waited a moment and then, 'Marion?'
'Marie, I think he just came in.'
Marie was silent for a moment. 'What makes you so sure?'
Marion kept her voice down. 'It's not everyday I find myself drawn to this complete stranger who's sucking on some random girl's neck.'
'True.' Marie audibly shifted something on her side. 'What's he look like?'
Marion rolled over and smiled foolishly to herself. 'Gorgeous. Tall, tanned, light brown hair, five o'clock shadow, wears a fedora…'
'Brown?' Marie cut her off. 'Battered?'
'Yeah.'
'Is this a guy about six pieds tall?' Marie asked.
Marion thought about it. 'I'd say so.'
'His name's Indiana Jones?'
'Met him?' Marion asked.
'A couple of months after you guys left Paris,' Marie said. 'He was studying linguistics at Sorbonne. Once we know there's a hero coming, we keep our eyes open. I saw him take out six muggers in under three minutes and listed him as a possible candidate.'
Marion paused. 'And if I'm drawn to him?'
'Then he's the one.'
~NQM~
Indy sat at the window, looking out over Abner's estate. He'd heard that Abe had a daughter, but very little was ever said about her. Abner's workmates at the University had referenced her as "the Ravenwood girl" with what Indy had detected as disdain and Abner himself rarely talked about her.
What was there to be ashamed of? She had to be the most incredible girl he'd ever met, even though he only knew her for a minute or two. She'd only seen one incident and it was enough to tell her that was his regular behaviour. Then she'd made it quite clear that she was not going to play his games.
What a beautiful woman.
Indy smirked to himself. That desire for her probably stemmed from the fact that she was unattainable. He probably shouldn't be thinking like that. For one, he had the feeling that Abner would kill him if he ever found out. For another thing, Marion Ravenwood wasn't a woman. She was a seventeen year old girl. She was just a kid.
…A kid that was mature enough to know a womaniser when she saw one.
~NQM~
Abner was quite happy that Henry Jones Junior had decided to come and help him find the Ark of the Covenant. Of course, if Henry knew the true purpose behind the quest, Abner would, at the very least, wake up with a fat lip. Jones would probably also tell Marion what was going on and take her somewhere that Abner couldn't find her.
It was amazing how such a bum could fail so spectacularly to mind his own business.
~NQM~
Indy wasn't sure whether to be amazed or scared. Marion shot him a smirk and skipped out of the room – literally skipped. Abner was convinced his daughter was oblivious to just about everything, sex included, but she sure as hell didn't seem so to him. The girl had just told him that, in her words, "your last lay is standing on the street outside with her friends".
In fact, Indy was certain she wasn't as clueless as Abner liked to think.
A quick inconspicuous check outside told Indy that, yes, last night's "lay" was standing outside with her friends. Which meant Indy was better to stay where he was. That left one question. How did Marion know who he'd slept with?
Indy frowned. There was really no point speculating when he had a very good source to find out. Indy got up and walked through the house. He winked at one of the maids as he passed her and she giggled. Easy. Every girl was easy except the one that actually interested him. She was too young for him, but the point still stood. He liked to know that he could.
Indy stepped into his room and shut the door behind him. 'Nick?'
The entrance was quiet but a white glow appeared by Indy's desk. It was only there for a second. When it faded, the guy in question was standing there, flicking through what looked suspiciously like mail. He looked like a well-built eighteen year old with brown shaggy hair and light brown eyes. Over the time Indy had known him, Nick Balinger proved to be anything but what he looked like.
Nick grinned and looked up. 'Do you have to call me every time you can't work something out, Indy?'
Indy scoffed. 'I hardly ever call you.'
'Hm.' Nick shrugged. 'Right, you called me because I know everything about this century. Just give me the name of the person who's got your knickers in a twist.'
Indy shook his head. '"Knickers in a twist". What is it with you and that expression? I don't get it.'
'You're American,' Nick said, looking back at his mail. 'You're not meant to. Oh, Ray, you idiot! What's that kid done now?' He paused before speaking to Indy again. 'Well? Name?'
Indy huffed. 'Kid's name is Marion Ravenwood.'
Nick looked up, amusement dancing in his eyes. 'Marion Violet Amber Ravenwood?'
'I think that's her full name, yeah.' Indy nodded.
Nick chuckled to himself. 'Is it that time already?' He looked away from Indy and rolled his head, smirking the whole time. 'I wouldn't go about calling her a kid, Indy.'
'That's what she is to me,' Indy said.
'I wonder how long he can keep telling himself that,' Nick muttered under his breath before returning to normal tone. He nodded his head. 'She knew Madame Clingy out there was your last lay because it's obvious if you know what to look for.'
'So she knows what to look for…' Indy's brain suddenly caught up with the first thing Nick said. 'Wait, what do you mean, how long I can keep telling myself that?'
Nick looked back up at him and smirked. 'Caught that, did you? Well, I'll only say this, Indy: nothing worth having is served up to you with compliments.'
