A/N DUN DUN DUNNNNN the first niggling of Raiders has comeeeeee. Are we all ready? IT'S ALMOST EGYPT TIMEEEEEE.

Also just, like, Harrison Ford, y'all.

Haven't we all been crushing on him since forever? That's a universal human experience, right?

Still haven't seen the new movie. Just having residual Indiana Jones crush feelingz over here.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Melting snow dripped rhythmically off the eves of Indy's office windows at the university. Spring was calling out faintly when it had already taken a firm hold further south. The stove behind her popped and crackled but couldn't warm up the whole room despite its small size.

The cardigan that had been draped over the back of his desk chair for as long as she'd known him found a new home around her shoulders, smelling like smoke and stale dust, but at least it kept her warm.

Smoothly she signed the date on the artifact tag in front of her and looked up as the door opened. "Marcus! How did the museum like that Mayan relief?"

"So well they want to finance another dig next season. I also hear congratulations are in order?" He ginned and set an unopened bottle of scotch on the desk. "Future Mrs. Dr. Jones."

Sophia chuckled and pulled two glasses out of the bottom desk drawer and Marcus poured them a sip or two each to taste.

"Elizabeth sends her well wishes and congratulations as well, of course. Before you met Indy, we thought he'd never settle down."

"He's ready to get married, but I'm not so sure he's about to settle down. There's still some years of adventure left in him." She said with some amusement and a whole lot of experience.

Marcus nodded and finished his drink. "Yes, in fact that is why I'm here." He set the glass aside and pulled something out of his breast pocket.

He laid it in her hand and she unfolded it on the desk over her half finished essay. It was two pieces of a map drawn on a leathery material, and a piece was still missing out of the corner. She knew that map very, very well.

Like a gut punch, fear and excitement came over her.

"I have a lead on where he could find the last piece. It's supposed to point to-"

"The Chachapoyan fertility idol." She finished for him.

"Do you think he'd be up for a trip down to Peru?" Marcus asked, knowing his answer already and grinning excitedly.

"If he gets his hands on that idol he'll probably go anywhere." She gently folded the pieces of the map back together and left it in front of her. Leaning back in her chair she folded her arms in front of her and stared at it. Suddenly she was feeling winded and covered it up with a tight smile and checked her watch. "He should be back anytime, class was over five minutes ago."

Marcus pressed his hands together, looking all together smug and giddy. "Oh! In all the excitement I almost forgot, Elizabeth has been pestering me to invite you three for dinner, though I suppose we'd best wait until Indy comes back, idol in hand, eh?"

"We can celebrate him finding it." She lied. Instead, they'd be telling Shorty to pack up so he could go stay with Marcus and his wife while they jetted off to Nepal. Less worrisome than Pankot? Mostly. A lot easier for things to go sideways after she'd stuck her big nose in Indy's life and derailed his and Marion's entire subplot? Yep. Then again, a chance for her to kill or at least maim some Nazis? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Indy flitted around the living room erratically, grabbing things only to get distracted and set them down and then forget where he'd put them. Sophia on the other hand had his suitcase open on the coffee table and collected his things methodically.

"Let's see," He rifled through the drawers of his desk. "Honey, have you seen my-"

"Indiana." She said sternly, holding up his gun already in the holster and setting it in his suitcase.

"Right. Thanks. Now, where is my…" He looked up again and finally paused. "Aren't you going to pack?"

"Didn't you say Jock was flying you in?" Besides, she enjoyed digs much better than the idea of a tarantula infested temple he was essentially robbing.

"Oh…" He realized. "Right, no room. You know I'm sure he could get a hold of a bigger plane-"

"I'm staying home." She said firmly with a smile. "I'm sure you'll manage just fine without me."

He seemed unsure about the shift in the room and he went silent for a second while he tried to hash it out. Sophia waited, amused that he seemed to be trying to figure out if he was in trouble or not.

When he settled on a course of action he started off by walking up to her with a smirk and winding his arms around her waist. "Will I?"

"Pretty certain you will." She said, narrowing her eyes at him playfully.

"You know, sweetheart, exploring ruins isn't nearly as interesting without you."

"You're not exploring, you're robbing." She reminded him.

"Aha!" He said excitedly, thinking he'd figured it out. "That's why you don't want to go. I knew it!" He dropped his arms and went back to packing. "For your information, I'm not robbing anything. I'm rescuing a valuable artifact that belongs in a museum-"

"From its own people who still worship that deity."

With a sigh he put his hands on his hips. "And did Marcus tell you there's a rumor that an antiquity dealer is also on its tail? If I don't go and find it it'll end up in some rich person's private collection."

Sophia wasn't exactly sure why she was having this argument with him when knowing what she knew, she'd rather they try to end up with it instead of Beloque who'd be giving it over to the Nazis. But the principle of it all was still valid and she did kind of need him to give up on her going.

"Come on," He begged. "I'll take you to Machu Picchu? You've been dying to go see the new excavation."

Sophia groaned, having a hard time saying no to that one. "Next time, I promise." She brushed her knuckle under his chin just like he always did with her and gave him a peck on the lips. "We only just got back, I could use a few more weeks at home before we go galivanting around the world again. Okay?"

Looking disappointed he relented. "Promise?"

"Promise."

Sophia forced herself not to look at her bedside clock as she stared up at the ceiling listening to Indy breathe softly next to her. It was only the first part of Raiders, hell Raiders technically hadn't even started yet, she shouldn't have been so apprehensive. But no matter what she tried, sheep and deep breathing and trying to replay the entirety of Lord of the Rings in her head to calm herself down all failed.

Raiders meant the start of another adventure, the passing of a year in the past, and a step towards what would be a dark number of years she wasn't ready to face knowing what she did.

They weren't fighting an enemy that would be defeated within a week of them getting there. They were stepping into an arena that would just get darker and more dire and take millions with it in the process.

And she knew it was going to happen.

One person, what the hell was she supposed to do against a world war on their doorstep? Crazy ideas of flying to Germany and trying to assassinate Hitler were hardly out of mind at any given point, but no matter how insane her life was she just couldn't see how that would ever work. Besides, his following had already grown so much, it wasn't likely to slow down, they'd just find a new figurehead.

With a grunt, Indy rolled over and flipped on the lamp, then rolled back over to face her and prop himself up on his elbow. "Okay, what's going on?" He rubbed his eyes with his free hand groggily.

Sophia shuffled a bit like she was making herself comfortable and kept staring at the ceiling, hoping he was too tired to really put much effort into his question. "Can't sleep, just gonna miss you while you're gone. Go back to sleep, you've got a long flight tomorrow."

He let his chin drop to his chest for a moment and sat up, clearly invested. "You know you're a bad liar when you're tired?"

"I'm also too tired to argue. Can we just go back to sleep?" She bunched the blankets up to her chest and rolled away from him.

"I'm not- I'm not trying to start an argument, honey." He sighed, putting his hand on her shoulder and rolling her back again. "What makes you think what's bothering you is gonna turn into an argument?"

"Because either I'll tell you and you'll just assume I'm making it up and get mad, or I'll refuse to tell you and you'll get mad that I'm not opening up." Tell him about WWII and she was spouting off bullshit future delusions because apparently only her archaeological knowledge was relevant, or don't tell him about WWII and she was freezing him out. No win situation.

Rubbing at his eyes again, Sophia could tell he was following what she was inferring. "Okay fine. I promise not to think you're making it up, no matter how crazy it sounds, and I won't get mad if you don't want to tell me."

Sitting up and facing him she gave in to the fact that he wasn't going to just go back to sleep like she wanted. "I just…When you grow up you learn about a lot about history, so when you're chucked backwards and are told you're now gonna live in that history…" The urge to tell him all of it, to get it off her chest and not have to bear all that knowledge on her own, was almost impossible to resist. "You shouldn't have to carry that burden too."

"I'm going to marry you." He said firmly. "That means you don't have to carry any burden alone ever again, alright? You tell me and I take care of it."

"There's no taking care of this! This isn't something you can just fix or correct or make better! It will stick in your head and make you feel guilty and useless and scared!"

"Then we'll feel useless and scared together! That's the deal, Sophia. You and me. So don't sit there trying to protect me!"

Her eyes burned and she looked down at her lap to get away from his gaze. How could she not give him at least some small explanation when he was practically begging her to? When she was aching for someone to understand even a part of it? Still looking down she tried to choose her words very carefully. "A lot of people are going to die. Most of them innocent people."

"How? A war?" He asked gently, knowing he was treading in very delicate territory and just thankful he'd even gotten that far.

Sophia nodded.

"Well…how many is a lot? As many as the Great War?"

Her voice strained against the lump in her throat. "Double. At least." More, probably. "They were still digging up bodies in my time." She ran a shaking hand under her eyes and looked anywhere but at him. "I feel like I should be doing something."

Whatever shock he felt about what she was saying he covered in a mask and turned his attention to her. "How are you supposed to stop a war?"

"I don't know." She hiccupped. "I think the chance for that has already come and gone."

"Then if we can't stop it, we'll get through it. Alright? We're gonna be okay, all three of us."

He sounded unsure but determined, and despite it all, Sophia let herself believe him at least in that moment. She scooted forward and curled into his chest. "I'm scared."

Curling his hand over the crown of her head he held her tight against him, his own thoughts spinning from her confessions with more questions and even more worries. But with her eyes pinched shut she couldn't see the crease in his brow and his long stare towards the dark window. "I know, sweetheart. I've got you."