A/N I hope y'all know that while I'm just dicking around in Indiana Jones here, you're giving me life.

That is all.

No but seriously, thanks for the support, it really does brighten my day and I'm glad to know you guys are having fun too :)

The dark tunnel turned red and hot as it opened up into a large, deserted cavern. Another tight passageway was across from them and, hand still clasped in his, Sophia followed as Indy made for it. Every step made the faint chants come in clearer and clearer until they came to the overlook. THE overlook.

Creeping to the edge they sank down behind the stone rim where they wouldn't be seen. Indy had one arm around her, and she had one arm around Shorty. The drums and gongs reverberated through her chest and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"It's a Thuggee ceremony." Indy said darkly. "They're worshiping Kali."

"I told you." Sophia hissed.

Then the drums quickened and she saw him. Mola Ram. There was no going back now, no running. No hoping to change anything. As soon as the ceremony was over they'd be kidnapped and she'd be the next one-

The man yelled and the cage squeaked and clanked as he was locked into it. Sophia knew what was next, but she couldn't look away, couldn't believe it was actually about to happen. Hearts didn't just get torn out of people's chests in real life, and if she was in a movie that was now real life then it wouldn't happen. Right?

The man screamed and Mola Ram's body blocked their view of his hand burrowing into his chest, but the heart that dripped blood down his arm as he held it up was clear enough. It pulsed in his fist and she felt the warmth drain from her face. Her free hand that wasn't wrapping around Short's face to cover his eyes, squeezed Indy's hand. Her fingernails dug into his skin as her hands trembled.

"He's still alive." Indy said as they opened the pit.

His arm tightened around her shoulders and his chest pressed up against her, the only comfort either one of them would be able to get anytime soon.

Mola Ram's laugh melded with the drums and the chants and the screams of the man as his heart caught fire in Mola Ram's hand, dripping flames onto the stone floor. A movie may have just become her real life, but she'd come into the movie, not the other way around.

Whatever magic Mola Ram was using was real.

Cheers erupted as the stones were brought out, their wrappings were removed, and when they were brought together they began to glow. The men holding them placed them in their spots in the statue and backed away while bowing to it.

"That's the rock they took from the village."

Sophia glanced up to look at him, seeing the glint of fortune and glory in his eyes. "The Sankara Stones."

"Exactly." He whispered, still staring down at the altar.

"Why they glow like that?" Shorty asked, a bit too loudly for Indy's worry and he shushed him.

"It's said that when the rocks are brought together, the diamonds inside them glow."

"Diamonds!"

"Shh!" Indy snapped a second time.

Below them the cavern began to empty and Indy was ready to take his chance.

"Look, I want you two to stay up here and keep quiet. Shorty, you keep an eye on her. Sophia, you keep an eye on him."

Indy let go of her and grabbed his whip, gently removing her clenched hand from his fingers.

"This isn't going to end well." She choked, feeling the hot breath of the plot breathing down her neck almost literally.

"I'm not leaving here without the stones." He said firmly, turning to go.

Unwittingly she grabbed at his arm trying to hold off the inevitable for just another second longer. "I know, just-"

"I'll be right back." He cupped her chin like he had back in the kitchen and smirked. "Promise.

He gave her a quick, hard kiss goodbye before turning away and climbing down.

Watching him creep and swing down to the altar wasn't the nerve wracking part, she knew he'd manage that. But a tension crept up her spine, fear burning palpable in the back of her neck knowing somebody was going to be coming up behind them.

He glanced up at them as he approached the stones and she didn't have the heart to even pretend she wasn't terrified. The stones were bagged and he was turning back to climb up when he paused. Then she heard them too, high pitched screams and crying, the children in the mines. They hadn't been able to hear them over the ceremony.

Suddenly a flash of black and red popped up in front of them and a man grinned, reaching for them, pushing them right back into the arms of two of the Thuggee.

Shorty yelled and kicked as he was lifted into the air and she rammed her elbow into the gut of the other. But the passage was too tight and she couldn't get around them. Shorty was carried off one way, and Sophia was carried off another.

There was no cage for her, no whipping to punish Indy for spitting out the blood. There was only a small room cut into the rock and filled with candles where she was left alone. Underground she couldn't tell how long she was there, her mind whirled and ran and spiraled as she paced.

Then company came again, two women equally stone faced and carrying a white dress. Blankly they pulled her out of her pajamas and forced her into it, adding a headpiece and jewelry and finishing it off with a garland of flowers around her neck.

Then it was time.

She didn't struggle, it wouldn't do her any good, but the two guards leading her held her arms tightly anyway. When she walked into the chamber the worshipers were back, and Indy stood beside Chattar Lal, numbly happy when he caught sight of her.

"Your friend has seen. And she has heard. Now she will not talk." He said to Indy.

There was no emotion in his face as the cage was opened. Despite her not resisting before, she couldn't help but dig her heels in as they pushed her towards it.

"When I get out of this I'm writing a whole NEW paper about you motherfuckers I swear to god." She yelled at Mola Ram as he stood in front of the cage facing the crowd.

"Do not swear to your god." He said, turning to her and stepping slowly towards her as her hands were clamped into the cage. "Your god will soon fall."

"Figure of speech." She sneered. "I'm actually agnostic." Though what that meant now in a world of magic rocks and the ark of the covenant was up for debate.

"You will soon know Kali's power." Mola Ram said, stroking her face and raising his hand towards the altar, beginning his chant.

His clawed hand trembled in front of her chest, but she knew he wasn't reaching for her. Turning he looked at Indy. "Come. Come!" He beckoned.

Indy paced slowly behind the cage, dazed as he came up to her and his hands ghosted over her face.

It was almost over. Almost. So long as Shorty escaped.

But what if he didn't?!

"Indy-"

He began to chant, closing the doors of the cage.

"No no no no wake up. Wake up! People don't fall into movies wake the fuck up Sophia!"

She was swung up and laid flat, staring up at the ceiling and the hands of the statue for just a moment before being flipped face down. The doors rolled open and with a blast of burning air she watched the swirling lava come into view.

"These things don't fucking happen!" Her throat constricted and her eyes burned. There was no way this was real, no way it was actually happening.

In a smooth motion the cage began to drop, heat rising with every breath she took. Flames curled up in clouds from the lava and she started getting light headed. The metal around her was heating up and her wrists and ankles burned.

Barely cognizant of it, her head bobbed as the cage jerked to a stop and she watched several flower petals fall as they wilted off her headpiece, disappearing into the pool.

Stopping was good, right? It meant Shorty had escaped, that Indy was fighting? Then the air began to cool again and smooth stone replaced the jagged edges of the pit. Movement to her left caught her attention and she locked eyes with Indy, just for a moment before the chains chittered and she fell again.

The sudden rush of heat made her vision go dark at the edges and blood rushed in her ears. Was she going up? Or down? She didn't know.

Vaguely she felt herself stopping again, and something touched her arms that wasn't the metal.

"Sophia? Sophia, come on honey, wake up!"

She sucked in a breath of muggy air and pried her eyes open, blinking as she tried to clear the spots from her vision. Indy was holding her up as her head lolled back limply and she tried to get her bearings. "I told you they were bad news." She said breathlessly, still having to get in her I told you so before she leaned in and kissed him.

"I'll make up for it later."

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

He let her go and she walked away from the pit, sinking down to her knees for a second in the archway to catch her breath. They weren't done yet, but now she was ready for some payback.

When she looked back, Indy was holding onto Shorty, apologizing for what had happened. But now it was time to go.

"I love a good heartfelt moment you guys," She interrupted, standing back up on two much sturdier feet and pulling off her headpiece and the skirt that hung over her pants. "but I'm ready to fuck this place up so we can get out of here."

"Right." Indy said, putting his hat back on. "All of us."