When Indiana Jones came through the front door of the house that day, Anna could instantly tell what was happening. He was wild-eyed, had a subtle smile on his face, and darted immediately for the stairs after offering a quick, "Hi!" as he clambered past and up the stairs.

Anna looked away from her language homework up towards her father as he scaled the stairs, "So. What's the big expedition for this time?"

"Big payday, Anna. Private collector from Shanghai wants his hands on some ancient remains. If I can get it for him, we're talking numbers like a hundred thousand dollars!" he said as he reached his study door.

Anna bookmarked her homework and closed it, "Private collector? You mean Lao Che?"

"How did you-" Indiana's keys jangled in the lock of his study door, only for him to twist the knob and find out that he'd re-locked it, "...Anna why is my study unlocked?"

"Um..." Anna blushed and looked away, "...No reason. You uh, must've forgot to lock it."

The door was unlocked again and tossed open as Indiana walked inside and rifled through his drawers, "...Right, sure. I'll call Marcus and have him take you for a month or two. I'll write you if it takes any longer."

Anna's eyes widened, "Hey! Wait- didn't you- you aren't meant to be going for that for another month!"

"I was going to go to Shanghai to reach out to him, once I could get a flight out with Panam. He reached out to me instead now, so I'm going to go early and take a private flight with Jock," he said, voice raised from upstairs.

Anna sighed as she looked back to her homework. Indiana had made her study a few foreign languages. From her correspondence with her grandfather, when it came to her family it apparently wasn't odd for weird, obscure languages to be passed down from father to son... and now father to daughter. She could understand learning Greek, as it was necessary to be respected in high academia. She had been less passionate about Spanish, but now she was forced to study stuff like Hindi, Latin, Mandarin? It was just a lot of work to clutter up her time indoors over winter, and it'd been going on for the last several years, every summer and winter. When was he gonna be satisfied that she could speak enough weird languages?

"...Dad. You're gonna miss my birthday... you did that last year," she said mournfully as Indiana walked back down the stairs.

Indiana reached over and ruffled her mane as he walked by, "Sorry, sweetie. I'll make it up to you as soon as I'm back. I promise."

Anna just took another sigh and remained silent, passively watching him as he spun the dial on the telephone resting by the radio in the lounge. Eventually, a voice came scratchily through the receiver, a voice she recognized as belonging to Marcus Brody.

"Yeah, hi, Marcus?" Indiana said into the receiver, "Yeah. I got that offer, from Che. Gonna have to leave for a few months, can you take care of-" he paused as barely audible, staticky words came over the speaker, "...What do you mean? Across Europe? Well can she come with you? Well yeah I know it'd not be that interesting... all she has is homework right now. She can catch up on that after the semester begins, her school schedules' flexible. Yeah, okay. Sure, I'll tell her that, bye."

Anna looked up as Indiana hung up and turned around with a frown, "Marcus is gonna leave the States," he said, "You're gonna need to pack up and head to his place to go with him to New York to go to Europe first thing tomorrow at around eight o' clock. He needs to meet at a bunch of conferences there."

Anna's heart fell again, her ears immediately flattening and wings drooping as she groaned, "Dad! That's gonna be the worst! His trips only ever go to the most boring places on the planet!"

"Well I'm sorry but you can't stay with the Morrisons, they'll be gone for another month on their vacation and Johan's still in Germany," Indiana explained, walking through the dining room and back towards the stairs, "I don't trust anyone else with you."

"You could just bring me with you," Anna quirked an eyebrow, eyes tracking him as he walked past, "I'm fifteen you know, I can take care of myself!"

"No," Indiana immediately answered, "Of course not. It's too dangerous."

Anna humphed and crossed her forelegs, looking away and out the window at the snowy yard and street out the front of the Jones property. She felt saddened, robbed, and massively disappointed... but the most she felt was enraged. Her father had always had his leaves of absences, and most of the time she could understand, and at least she could still be around to hang around with her friends and be in her hometown. But, the idea of not only missing her birthday, packing up that very night, ruining all of her plans, and going on a several month-long trek through Europe with stuffy old Uncle Marcus and attending a bunch of dumb lectures... it was just so unfair!

Anna's anger built until her hooves quivered. Raising her hoof, she slammed the table loud enough to catch her father's eye again. Then, as soon as she knew her act of defiance was being observed, she grabbed her book and threw it directly through the window, the smashing of glass resounding through the house just as loudly as her scream of frustration. Then, before Indiana could say anything else, she flew out of her chair, shot past him up the stairs, and slammed her bedroom door behind her.

Indiana Jones paused, standing at the bottom of the stairs, his coiled whip in one hand and belt and holster in the other. He stared up the stairs after his daughter, and turned to look at the shattered front window. His heart sunk as he began to hear sobs coming from behind the door. Lips drawn into a thin line, he sighed, "...Damn."

The next morning came, and Indiana trekked up the stairs. Pancakes were steaming on a plate in the kitchen, lathered with plenty of syrup and even some whipped cream and berries. He'd wanted to make her an extra special breakfast while he packed for her, as a form of apology. Knocking on the door, he called out to her.

"Anna! Come out, I made breakfast for you. I'm sorry about last night, okay? It really sucks, and I agree. If there was a better alternative, I'd let you have it in a heartbeat!" he called.

There was no answer. Putting his ear to the door, he didn't even hear her stir in her bedsheets. With a frown, he reached down and turned the knob on the door. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked and swung open on its own.

Anna's bedroom was well lived in, having evolved many times over the years since its origin as a drafty, empty section of the house eight years ago. She had her own writing desk in one corner, where a half-typed up note sat in the typewriter, with a stack of finished papers sitting in a binder next to it. Tons of balled up scraps of paper sat in and next to the wastebin right next to the desk. A bookshelf was filled with various books, mostly her textbooks, but also things like dictionaries, a thesaurus, a few fictional storybooks, and even two books that Anna wrote that Indy had binded for her.

Several of Anna's model vehicles hung from the ceiling and sat on shelves nearby it. A map of the world, torn and worn from its years of use, had been continually marked with crayon and later pen, names of Indiana's various expeditions scrawled all over it. Next to it, Anna's growing array of family photographs were hanging from the walls. There was even a recent oil portrait of Anna and Indiana, bringing out their colors against the other black and white photos. Litter, discarded clothes, and spilled items covered the floor, making it hard for anyone who depended on walking on the ground to navigate effectively. He really had to be more strict on her about cleaning up... but it was hard enough on her already that he was asking her to learn a bunch of languages that nobody around her spoke.

There was a wardrobe, door half-closed and revealing a travesty of disorganized clothes sitting around inside. Next to it, a bureau was in a similar state, with underwear and personal items hanging out of half-closed, jammed drawers. A few feet away, a window looked out over into the Morrison's yard, with a bed sitting just below it. The bed was messy and unmade, covered with pink-and-white striped sheets with a set of two pillows for head support. The bed would usually only be comfortable for a child, and not a teenager, but Anna was small enough to still feel comfortable on it even though she was 16 now.

The only thing that was missing from Anna's bedroom, was Anna herself.

"...Anna?" Indiana shouted, peeking inside and checking the ceiling and behind the door, "...ANNA!?"

Indiana checked the bathroom, the study, his own room, the basement, the attic, the neighbor's houses, and then checked everywhere again in the same order. Eventually, with his hands on his hips, he muttered to himself: "Not again."

After almost an hour of searching later, Indiana rushed back downstairs, past the cold pancakes sitting on the kitchen counter, and to the home phone. Wiping sweat from his brow, he dialed the operator, "Operator? I need the police, please."

Without even answering, the operator connected his call, and eventually a gruff voice responded, "Bedford police department."

"Hi," Indiana sighed shakily, "I'd like to report a missing child. My daughter was really upset last night, and I think she might've run away from home. I've checked everywhere in my house and in the neighbors'. Could you send an officer, please?"

"Of course," the voice responded, "Name and address?"

"Ind-" Indiana stopped himself, "...Henry Walton Jones, Junior. 38 Sandfield Drive."

After hanging up with the police, Indiana leaned onto the phone desk and focused. He thought quickly over all the places she might've gone. This time, he didn't have the luxury of knowing exactly where she would want to run off to. If she was just upset, she could've flown almost anywhere. Her pocket change was still sitting in a coinpurse in her bedside table, so it wasn't like she was flying somewhere to patronize a restaurant. For all he knew, she could be sitting on a cloud somewhere over the sea, brooding or crying her little heart out.

Indiana began to pace back and forth in the living room. An idea popped into his mind, and he immediately turned back around and dialed for Marcus's house. Eventually, he picked up, "Marcus Brody speaking."

"Hi. It's Indy," Indiana said, trying to make his voice sound less nervous as he really was, "Is uh, is Anna there?"

"No, weren't you meant to drop her off in an hour?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah well- I would, but she's uh. She's missing," Indiana tapped his foot rapidly on the floorboards.

"Oh, dear. What happened? Did someone break in?" Marcus questioned.

Indiana shook his head, "No. I think she ran away. She wasn't really happy about me missing her birthday and having to go with you to Europe," he sighed, "I have half a mind to just cancel the stupid contract with Lao and stay."

Marcus chuckled nervously, "...Er, Indy. Isn't Lao a mob boss?"

"Yeah well-" Indy stopped and thought.

"Wouldn't it be a bad idea to back out of a deal with a ringleader like that?" Marcus intoned gently, "I'm not saying don't do it, but I'm saying... consider the risks for a moment."

Indiana thought of the idea of attracting a hitman to his house, and the exact implications that would have for him and his family, "I am considering."

"Well, Indy, I really should continue packing," the phone crackled as he continued, "I really must leave in the next hour, if I miss the train I miss the boat. Keep me informed. Ta-ta!"

"Goodbye," Indiana said, sighing as he placed the receiver back on the hook.

The sound of a siren approaching his house knocked him out of his reverie. He looked up at the clock. 7:30 AM, at 8:30 Marcus would be leaving. It'd take about eleven minutes to get to Marcus's place if he stepped on it. At this point, though, it wasn't his major concern. His major concern was getting Anna back home safely. Worse came to worse, she could stay home... although he dreaded to imagine the state he'd find when he came back.

Opening the door, he greeted the policeman on the steps of his front door, "Morning, Officer," Indiana tried to manage a smile.

"Henry Jones, is it?" the officer stuck out a hand with a smile through his bushy moustache.

Indiana nodded, "That's my given name," shaking the cop's hand and reaching up to scratch the side of his head, he continued, "I'm uh, I'm really embarrassed about all of this. The only other time she snuck out was to go visit her friends at camp. This is the first time I've had to call the police about this kind of stuff..."

"It's quite alright, sir. We do stuff like this all the time. I'll just collect your statement and a description of your... daughter, was it?" the officer paused.

"Yeah. Her name's Anna."

The officer stepped forward slightly, "Mind if I come in? It's awfully cold out here."

"Yeah," he stepped aside, letting the officer in.

"Got a wife, Mr. Jones?" the officer asked as he walked inside, taking off his cap and taking off his boots to not track snow inside.

Indiana shook his head as he walked over to the kitchen, sparing a regretful glance towards the pancakes, "No, uh. I adopted her, I've never been married."

The officer quirked an eyebrow as he noticed a draft from the kitchen window, which had been patched up with a bunch of cardboard and tape, "Baseball through the window?"

"Well, er... no, she threw a book through the window when she got angry with me," Indiana sighed, "I think the reason she ran away is cause I need to go on a business trip, and I'll miss her birthday and she needs to go with her uncle to Europe and..." he paused as he realized he was rambling. It was unlike him, most of the time he made an effort not to be obtuse with his words with other adults.

The officer, nevertheless, nodded understandingly, "Okay. What's she look like?"

Indiana smacked his lips, "Well... uh. She's, uh... she's about three and three quarters tall, almost four foot," he put a hand level near his stomach as an indicator, "She got a golden coat, black-and-white hair, and rose-colored eyes."

The officer stared at him with a raised eyebrow, pencil hovering over a pad of notes.

Indiana gave a frustrated sigh, "Didn't you see the news? Did all the buzz about a new form of intelligent life die down already?"

"Well, I-" the officer frowned.

"You must be new or something," Indiana placed his hands on his hips, "They send the rookies out for this kind of thing?"

"I um- well, I suppose-" the officer stuttered, before his eyebrows lowered over his eyes and he looked down to his notes, "When do you think she ran off?"

"Sometime before seven this morning, that's when I went to wake her up," Indiana sighed, turning around and placing his hand on the back of his head as his mind swam with worry.

"How old is she?" the cop asked.

"Fourteen. Fifteen in a few weeks" Indiana answered.

The cop, fortunately, just wrote down the information before nodding to himself, "Well. I suppose this explains why the chief said Bedford has some strange residents..." he nodded, "We'll keep our eyes out, Mr. Jones. You have a home phone, so just call us if she shows up back home naturally. Most kids ten and older come back on their own naturally if they go missing, and teenagers ain't usually the target of many kidnappings like this. Don't worry yourself too much, Mr. Jones."

Indiana frowned as the thought of kidnapping came into his mind, and how easy it might be to get Anna into the back of a van or track if she wasn't paying attention... and how much she'd historically been vulnerable to such things. Regardless, he put on a brave face as he turned around and nodded to the officer, "Thanks. I'll try."

The cop smiled as he turned back for the door, grabbing his cap and putting his boots back on, "I'd love to stay and chat, Mr. Jones, but I've got work to do."

Indiana waved the cop off as he drove back down the street in his cruiser. Almost immediately after the policeman was back safely out of sight, Indiana ran back inside, donned a winter jacket, put on his belt and holster, loaded his revolver, coiled his whip, and grabbed his fedora from the hatrack as he went back outside. Locking the door behind him, he climbed in his car and blasted the engine as he rolled off his driveway.

Indiana checked his watch as he pulled away from another street corner he knew she liked to frequent. It was already 12:00. Marcus was long gone (the old man had even offered to take a slightly later train just in case), but there was still no sign of Anna. In his rush to start searching everywhere for Anna, he'd forgotten his wallet, and lacked the change to pay for a payphone to try and ring his home to see if she'd come home since he left. He'd go home to recuperate, grab more stuff, finally eat a meal, and then head back out to the town again. He'd scour every single street in Bedford, and after that...

Indiana gritted his teeth as he blasted by a stop sign, trying not to think about what would happen next.

After a half hour of driving, with a quick pit stop at a local diner Anna had tried once, he continued back to Petunia Drive. His home came over in his windscreen, and his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel relaxed as he pulled back into his driveway, stopping the engine and pulling up the parking brake. Climbing out, he walked briskly to the front door and pulled out his keys, stomping inside and kicking off his boots.

He instantly paused as he looked at the counter. The pancakes were no longer there, and the oven had been switched on. Its door hung open and it still radiated heat. He shouted into the house, "ANNA!?"

A voice from right beside him mumbled, "I'm right here, Dad."

Indiana's neck shot to his side so fast that he could have broken it and a wave of relief instantly washed over him. Anna was sitting there, done up in a full parka and thick trousers, with a half eaten stack of gluggy pancakes, on the couch. Swallowing her bite of pancakes, she nodded towards the shattered window, "I crawled back in through the window. I knocked all the broken glass out of the way first, don't worry."

Sure enough, when Indiana checked, the lower pane of the kitchen window had its cardboard fitting removed, and the sharp glass shards around it kicked out onto the floor. Turning back towards Anna, unbidden anger boiled in his heart, "Don't you EVER do that again! You had everyone worried sick for you! I thought somebody had broken in and stolen you away in the night!!!" an angry finger pointed towards his daughter.

Anna flinched slightly, but shifted in her seat into a more defensive position and flourished her nose, "Well, Dad. While I was up hiding in the clouds, I saw Marcus leave for his trip already. So, I think I'm in a position to bargain."

"Bargain!?" Indiana said incredulously, stepping out of the way of the door, and slamming it shut behind him.

Anna flinched again, and her voice shook, "W-Well... there's n-nobody you trust to supervise me now. So uhh... I can stay home and wreck the place, o-or..." her voice grew small as she shuffled backwards against the arm of the couch, "Or I could go with you..."

Indiana blinked, his rage turning into a mix of still-present anger and confusion.

Anna frowned, "Well, darnit Dad. What're you gonna do? Ground me? It's still better than going to Europe. And you know you can't be here to enforce the grounding unless you cancel your trip, in which case you still are here for my birthday. Just let me go with you! I want to go on one of your adventures! I've been reading the Mandarin textbooks just like you asked! It'd be a good place to practice!"

The memories of how regretful he was to demand she give up so much just so he could go on his expedition came up and brought his boiling rage down into a tiny, scalding hiss. The only thing he had left to be angry about... was just how right she was. Still, he protested, "Anna. Lao Che is a dangerous mobster. Since you obviously rifled through my post, you'd know that. I'd be mad to bring you to where he could reach and hurt you."

"Okay? Then don't bring me to Lao Che. You're looking for some ashes, right? Just bring me along for that and leave me in the hotel room when you need to go do the gangster stuff," Anna suggested, her confidence returning as Indiana simmered down.

Indiana seriously considered his options, standing in the entryway with the snow slowly melting off of his hat. The safest option, by far, was backing out of his deal as early as possible. It was completely likely that the mobsters would just find a different person to take the job and leave him alone. However, this was just such a big opportunity...

...Well, all of his adventures were big opportunities, but this one was particularly big.

A deal for a treasure he'd been searching for for over a decade. A prize that had just barely escaped his grasp. Anna was old enough to take care of herself at home, right? Abner left Marion alone in her tent when she was just 12 years old, surely-

He mentally slapped himself. Who was he fooling? Anna had him right where she wanted him, trapped between his desire to chase glory and the small but vocal part of his brain that needed him to make sure she was happy. He heaved a deep sigh, reaching up to his hat and hanging it on the hook next to the door.

"This isn't going to be a vacation, Anna," Indiana said sternly, though his words immediately brought light to Anna's eyes and a grin to her face, "You will do everything I say and stay out of trouble. No flying around, no getting lost, no exploring around, no talking to anyone, no nothing, you hear?"

"Cross my heart! Hope to die!" Anna immediately promised, making the correct motion as she leapt up from the couch, plate and cutlery rattling from the vibrations of her movement.

"Pack up your stuff, and I'll pack your gun and whip. Only pack the essentials, clothes, a few books to read, and your mandarin textbook. Okay?" Indiana finished.

Anna grinned and saluted, jumping into flight and zooming back up the stairs.

Indiana squinted as he heard the sounds of rustling and packing from upstairs. He had a feeling that this was either the best or the very worst decision he'd had to make in his life.

"Cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ," Indiana intoned.

"Cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ!" Anna repeated.

"You're putting too much emphasis on zài, there's small stuff like that that makes the difference between gibberish and actual Mandarin. Try again," Indiana requested, repeating the phrase as he stroked a finger across the page of the Chinese dictionary, "Cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ."

Anna scrunched muzzle, and slowly repeated, "Cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ."

"Eh," Indiana sighed, closing the dictionary, "That's okay for now. You'll probably be able to get better at the pronunciation once you start hearing other people speaking. I'm gonna take a nap," Indiana declared as he leaned back into his seat, pulling his fedora over his head, "Wake me up once we're in Shanghai."

The cabin of the airplane rumbled as it zipped through the sky, clouds floating on past through the windows. Anna unbuckled her seatbelt, looking out one of the windows as she pondered for a moment. She'd never been in an airplane before, with air routes between America and the other continents being fairly new-fangled and always neglected in favor of slower but more dependable sea travel. While she thought it'd be boring to be flying without feeling the wind rustling through her wings, she honestly felt more like she was in the belly of some huge, majestic beast. She found it rather fascinating.

Checking on her father again, Anna found him already snoozing. She found herself slightly jealous of his ability to sleep so quickly, but reminded herself that it was probably an acquired skill. Despite the fact they hadn't slept all that well at their last refueling spot, she didn't feel like going to sleep just yet. Getting up from her seat, she began to look around the cabin.

They'd been flying in the same plane ever since leaving from San Francisco a day or so ago, and aside from the fueling stops their travel had been mostly uninterrupted. Their bags sat behind their two seats, in the midst of an otherwise coldly empty cargo bay. A few rows of aged, ragged seats with torn cushioning and stained upholstery sat along the left side of the airplane. Along the opposite wall was a large hatch, used for, according to her father, skydiving and airdrops.

Anna herself wore clothes that were rather similar to her father's. A beige shirt, trousers with a hole cut through to feed her tail through, a belt to keep her trousers from falling down, an empty holster on her right hip, and a buckle on her left hip for her whip... which she also wasn't "allowed" to have until they were landed. Really, the only things she was missing from her father's outfit was his brown leather jacket and fedora... and his shoes, but she'd gotten more than used to using her bare hooves over her life. Uncle Johan had recommended she not use shoes unless necessary, as placing wear on her hooves made them easier to maintain as long as she wasn't carrying too much weight while hiking.

Turning around, Anna looked at the cockpit door. It was left ajar, and the shadow of the pilot (a man she had been briefly introduced to as Jock Lindsey) sat at the controls. Walking up, she nudged the door open and looked up at him.

An array of controls, dials, buttons, and switches were laid out in front of them. Over the dashboard a windshield looked out over an endless expanse of clouds, and below them the endless expanse of ocean. Eventually, the pilot turned his head towards Anna, "Oy? Something wrong?"

"Uh... no," Anna pawed at the ground a bit, "How's the uh... how's the plane?"

Jock leaned on his armrest, "It's good. On long haul stuff like this, the plane basically flies itself. Just need to make sure the compass is stayin' still and the blue side's up."

"Oh," Anna nodded slowly, "What do all those things do?" she pointed at the panels of instruments, levers, and switches.

Jock grinned, "Wanna see it up close?" he patted the seat of the chair to his right, "I'll show ya, don't worry, if you touch anything we'll just go into a tailspin and explode."

Anna was mostly sure he was joking, and thus simply rolled her eyes as she walked up the two steps leading into the cockpit and awkwardly maneuvered herself into the seat, as the ceiling was too low to simply do a flight-assisted hop over the armrests. Elevated high enough by the chair, Anna could see the nose of the plane, and the two engines roaring to her left and right.

"Doc Jones tells me you can fly on those wings?" Jock questioned, regarding her wings curiously.

Anna nodded, "Just not this fast. But this isn't the first time I've been high up."

"I wish I 'ad wings," Jock gave a toothy smile as he put his hands on the strange steering wheel in front of him, "I get by just fine with planes though."

Anna nodded, before looking back at the dashboard in front of her, "So..." she trailed off, wiggling a hoof towards the gauges in front of her.

"Ya ever driven a car before?" Jock asked. When Anna shrugged, he continued, "Well it's kinda like that, just a bit more complicated. You turn this big thing, called the Yoke, left and right, and it makes flaps move left and right to make the plane turn."

Anna flexed her wings slightly as she looked forward, imagining how she did it herself, before nodding, "Makes sense. I had to learn to not throw my weight left and right to steer in the air. My feathers did the steering for me."

"Can't bank too hard or you start stalling or spinning," Jock concurred, before pointing out a few of the gauges, "That's fuel. That's our altitude. That's our airspeed. That's an artificial horizon-"

"What's an artificial horizon?" Anna asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Jock rubbed his nose, "Ah. It uh, it tells me which way is up. Trust me, it can get pretty confusing if you get into clouds or fog. You gotta learn to trust your instruments over your instincts if you're gonna fly..." he eyed her wings again, "...Though you probably have extra instincts that humans don't have when it comes to flight."

Anna nodded dumbly, before reaching for a random lever on the dashboard, "What's that do?"

Jock slapped her hoof before it reached it, "Yeah, don't touch that, mate. That's the fuel dump. You only use that if your engines are on fire or you need to shed weight for an emergency landing."

"Oh," Anna retracted her hoof, "Sorry."

"No biggie," Jock continued, pointing down at the other levers and switches, "That's the throttle. It's kinda like a car's accelerator, except it directly controls the engine's speed rather than just asking the engine to start spinning faster and faster until it maxes out. These two levers here change the fuel mix- they don't really matter in most cases. And there's other things here. Oh yeah-" he pointed to a large console between the two seats, "That's the radio. You use it to talk to other planes or down to the ground. Hey-" Jock turned to point a finger at Anna, "If I'm passed out and your father's out of action, or if you're ever on a plane and something's wrong. This is what you do: you set this knob," he pointed to a knob marked FREQ "To 121.5. Remember that? One-two-one point five. Then you say: 'Mayday mayday mayday, I am in distress'. Since we're in Asia, try the 'I am in distress' part in that Mandarin you've been learning. The ground control man should be able to get what you're saying just from the 'Mayday' part. Just listen to whatever they have to say and they'll help you out."

Anna nodded mutely before looking at the fuel gauge and tapping it. The needle was drifting down into the lower 25%, and she frowned, "Uh, the fuel is low."

"I know. These big twin engines have big fuel tanks as well, it's how we got the range to fly all the way across the Pacific. If it got to around..." he pointed with his index finger to one of the notches closer to the red line at the very bottom of the fuel gauge, "There, then we'd be in trouble. That's called Mayday Fuel, and that means we're running so low that just gettin' to the airport's gonna be a trick."

Anna laid back in the seat and craned her neck to see over the sill of the window, looking down at the clouds as they went by, "...Can I stay here for a bit?"

"Sure thing mate," Jock said as he leaned back as well, eying the horizon as he did so to make sure he didn't knock the plane off course, "Ya know, if you're interested in learning how to fly a plane, I work with your father a bunch. If we got spare time, we can log a few flight hours together, get you a license."

Her ears perked as she turned around, thinking for a bit, "I mean, if you got the time to come all the way up to Bedford, then yeah sounds great. I mean, I hope Dad brings me on more of these trips, but after the stunt I pulled..."

Jock adjusted his sitting position as he leaned on the armrest towards Anna, "What kinda stunt was it?"

Anna grumbled slightly, crossing her forelegs, and staring out ahead of the plane, "...Dad was gonna make me go with my uncle on a boring business trip while he went and had fun looking for treasure. So I ran away from home until he couldn't send me off with my uncle and then forced his hand to bring me along."

Jock clucked his tongue, following her gaze out over the front of the plane, "I mean, from what I've seen with 'im, treasure hunting isn't all gunfire and hot chases. Sounds like you just traded some time with yer uncle for some time with yer dad," he eventually moved to side-eye her, "He spend much time with you, at all?"

"I mean, yeah," Anna frowned, "Plenty. But... when he goes, he goes for months at a time, and he goes no matter what's happening. It's my birthday in like, two weeks, and he was gonna miss it. He missed it last year as well. He missed my primary school graduation..."

Jock reached out over the middle console and ruffled Anna's mane. She scrunched her muzzle as he did it and finally took her eyes off the skies ahead. He retracted his hand and put his feet up on the dashboard, "My Dad was like that. Always somewhere else, and never there when it really mattered. Poor Mom, alone raising me and my brothers and keeping the house in order, but hey-" Jock poked Anna's shoulder, "You're Dad's a better person than mine was. You should try telling him that yourself, in the same way you said it to me. I'm sure he'll understand. Hell, maybe if this goes well we can meet up more and you can get shot at by gangsters together more often."

Anna's ears flattened against her skull. She wasn't sure how much she believed him about her father understanding her worries. Indiana had always been so cagey about her having anything to do with his adventures, always constantly fretting and worrying about her safety... to the point where she probably had been told so much theoretical self defense knowledge that it all blended together. At the same time, she couldn't fathom the guilt she'd feel in making him stay at home all the time. Every day he spent working his office job and lecturing, he grew a bit sadder, and then perked right back up as soon as he was home from an excursion. He'd only brought her because she'd betrayed his trust and forced him to. She doubted severely her chances of recapturing the lightning in a bottle that was this journey.

Something came up over the horizon that allowed Anna to change the subject and break the awkward silence, "Hey, is that land?"

Jock's eyes followed her's, and he nodded, "Yup. That's the east coast of China right there. Might've drifted off course a bit..." Jock reached into the slot between himself and the middle console, unravelling a paper map. Anna, instantly curious, leaned over her armrest to look at the map as he pondered, "...Could be... nah. Hm..."

Anna looked up at the shoreline once, and then confidently pointed at a coastline just south of Shanghai, "Right there."

"Blimey," Jock looked at her hoof and then up at the coast again, "I think you're right! That's... north by northwest, three hundred and fifty degrees!"

The plane banked to the right as Jock took the controls. Anna's senses tingled as she noticed a gradual decline in altitude as Jock began to make the plane gently descend below the cloud line. Twenty more minutes of flying and a city's skyline began to unfold in the distance. For Anna, it reminded her of New York slightly. However, there was no Statue of Liberty, or any of the other landmarks of the skyline. It was surprisingly modern - from everything she'd been told about the Orient, she'd thought she would see a lot more rice fields, red-colored wood, and traditional architecture.

Looking to Jock, she asked, "How much longer till we land?"

"I'd say about fifteen minutes till we make the final approach," Jock said, "You should watch the landing. It's pretty complicated, probably the hardest part about flyin'."

Anna gave a mute nod as she got up from the seat, gently stepping over the middle console and towards the door leading back into the passenger compartment. Knocking against the bathroom door right next to it, she shouted at her father, "Dad! We're here!"

Indiana Jones stirred and muttered something as Anna retreated back through the doorway to sit back down in one of the cockpit's seats. Jock had the radio receiver to his mouth, and the speakers crackled with static as he spoke, "This is Oscar-Bravo One to Pudong Airport, currently at 5,050 feet and descending, heading north by northwest at four-fifty. Permission to enter airspace?" He released the transmission button and looked to Anna, "Gotta always tell ground control that and ask for permission to enter their airspace. They're responsible for making sure you don't crash into other planes and that you land safely."

The radio eventually squawked a reply in accented English, "Oscar-Bravo One, this is Pudong Control. You have permission to enter the airspace. At this time, once you reach the coast, make your course northeast twenty and descend to 2,000 feet."

"Gotcha," Jock responded, before pushing the yoke down, "They're gonna have me go up and down the coast until they can get me a runway. The airport's around there," he pointed through the windscreen at a part of the city, "It shouldn't be really busy, so we'll be down on the ground soon enough."

Anna nodded, before jumping slightly as the door opened behind them. Indiana Jones leaned into the compartment, fedora back on his head and jacket actively being shrugged on, "How's the plane, Jock?"

"Good enough, mate. Got a bit knocked off course somewhere since Japan, but your kid's a real whiz with the map, found us on the coast in seconds," he chuckled, poking Anna in the shoulder once again. This time, she gave him an annoyed look and rubbed the offended spot.

Indiana nodded, "Good. I'll be back here getting our luggage. You'll be returning to the States afterwards?"

Jock adjusted the course as the plane reached the coast, "Yep," he eventually answered, "You'll be alright?"

"Yeah," Indiana said as leaned back away from the cockpit and reached into his jacket, "I know someone who works at the airport here. They'll get me- er, us back to America once we're done."

Anna hummed as she turned her head, "How long do you think this'll take, really?"

"Well, once we get down on the ground..." Indiana muttered, digging through his wallet for several high denomination bills of cash, "It'll be about a week of book research at best, but more likely two. We'll have to see from there. If the entire thing takes more than three months, then it's probably a bust and I'll need to go home and look for other experts to help," Indiana pulled out a wad of bills (about seven hundred dollars, by her estimation) and thrust it towards Jock, who took it with a toothy smile, "Believe that's what we agreed on."

"Yep," Jock stuffed the money into his shirt pocket as he turned back towards the controls.

A voice through the radio chatter brought Anna's attention forward, "Pudong Control, Oscar Bravo One, make your course west two-forty. We have spotted you, you are clear for runway one."

"Gotcha, west two-forty, Oscar Bravo One," Jock replied, before hanging up the receiver again and turning. The city zoomed by below, and Jock pulled back on the throttle as they lined up for the runway, still far in the distance, "Now, the thing that makes landing tricky, is that you gotta go nice and slow. Too fast and you'll damage the plane on landing, or speed off the wrong end and smash into a fence. But you can't go too slow, or else you might not make it to the runway. On something like this, 84 knots is good enough."

Anna watched the airspeed indicator begin to drop as the roar of the engines died down. Eventually, it reached 90, and Jock began to move the throttle slightly to keep the plane from stalling as it continued to descend towards the runway. Jock reached over and pulled a lever, "Gotta have the flaps down on landing."

Anna once again flexed her wings slightly. She too angled her wings when landing at a high speed, so that they caught enough wind to slow her down while not dropping her too fast. It all made a lot of sense to her.

The ground came closer and closer, and Jock handled the yoke like a true professional as the nose came up and the runway engulfed the land beneath them. With the screech of rubber, the plane landed and skidded down the runway. Jock pulled a lever, quickly grunting, "Brake!" the tires continued to screech, before eventually the momentum left the plane and they began to roll to a gentle stop, the end of the runway still a safe hundred feet or so away.

"And that's how you land a plane," Jock smiled, releasing the brake and moving the throttle slightly forward as the engines propelled the plane forward down the runway towards a turn-off. The radio squawked directions to a hangar, and Jock began to navigate towards a designated place.

Anna yawned slightly, realizing it may have been for the best if she napped alongside her father before landing. If she was back in the States, it would've been around 11 PM, and about an hour after she'd usually be safely in bed. Here, though, the sun was high in the sky, around 12PM if she had to hazard a guess.

Anna was jolted from her tired slumber when something cold and dry brushed up against her hind leg. Looking down, her wings reflexively spread and flapped once, propelling her straight into the ceiling as she saw the creature coiling around her leg. It was a Boa Constrictor, staring up at her with cold beady eyes. It stuck out its tongue once, before lowering its head onto her knee.

"Oh, don't worry about him," Jock said as he turned the yoke down a taxiway of the airport, "That's just my pet snake, Reggie. He's a harmless little goober," reaching out over the middle console, he stroked the snake's head, "That just means he likes you."

"Oh..." Anna looked down as the snake raised its head, leaning into the pets. His tongue flicked out a few times, and it cuddled slightly in towards his master's hand, "Where'd you get him?"

"Eh, pet store," Jock put his eyes back on the taxiway in front of him, "But he's been with me since he was just a tiny lil' noodle."

Smiling, Anna turned back to Reggie and resumed the stroking of his head where his owner had stopped. The snake reared its head more into her hoof, and licked her once with his tongue, "I don't see why Dad's afraid of these guys."

At that very moment, the squeak of the flooring indicated the arrival of Indiana Jones in the doorway leading into the cockpit. Anna turned to look at him, and saw him carrying a holster and her whip in his right hand, "Hey, Anna, come back here and put these- OHhhHHhHH!" he quivered as his eyes finally looked at Anna's hind leg, and the snake calmly coiled around it, "Jock, what's a snake doing eating my daughter!?"

Jock chuckled, "That's my snake," he said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Reaching over, he scratched Reggie's chin slightly, causing the snake to calmly begin uncoiing.

Sounding almost sick, Indiana retreated from the cockpit, shouting behind him, "Anna. Get over here and put these on."

Not long after the plane finished taxiing had Anna left the cockpit. She was given her gun, and informed it was fully loaded. She was pensive as she took the weapon, knowing that it was the "real deal". Her whip, attached to the opposite side from her revolver, was a much more fun presence. Finally, she was given a bag full of items, her spare changes, some emergency pocket money in case she ever got stranded, a pocket knife, a box of spare bullets for her gun, and her journal.

Jock saw the two of them off as the plane's engines powered down and crew rushed up to attend to the landed aircraft, "Have a good one, Doctor Jones! And you too, Anna!" he waved as he stood in the hatchway.

Indiana Jones, notably scrambling to put a bit of distance between himself and the plane, gave a quick wave back, "Safe flight back, Jock!"

"Thanks for showing me the cockpit! And give Reggie a treat from me!" Anna shouted as she stretched her wings and hovered in midair, freeing up a hoof for her to wave.

Indiana mumbled something after she mentioned Reggie, but continued onwards as he shrugged a heavy duffel bag, containing most of the duo's vital belongings, over his shoulder, "Try not to fly around too much here, Anna. I don't want you attracting too much attention."

Anna huffed, "Pfft. Dad, I'm basically a walking, talking foghorn already. Besides, you know what Uncle said about keeping my wings practiced!" her eyes scanned the hangar around them. On the surface, it was no different from the place they went to in America in San Fransisco, but there were subtle differences in designs, smells, sounds, and looks.

Sunlight beamed over Indiana's face as they reached the mouth of the hangar, "I suppose you're right."

Anna smelled the fresh air as the wind blew over the airfield, giving out a sigh before rolling her shoulders slightly, "Besides. If I'm walking, some guy might just pick me up and drag me off. Harder to do when I'm up here..." to prove her point, she ascended to a few feet higher than her father's head.

Sparing a tired look up at his daughter, Indiana reached up and gently pulled her back down to his height by a hind leg, "Remember the rules? Stick close, don't fly off, do what I say, and just run- or fly, if there's trouble."

Anna rolled her eyes, "Yes Dad."

Indiana ignored her attitude as he trudged along towards a fence at the edge of the airport. Several other passengers and crew milled around the entrance, as it was the medium between the outer streets and the airfield. Many stared, but Anna pretended nothing was wrong as they came closer to the exit gates.

Indiana eventually spoke up as they neared the checkpoint, "I have contacts here. Their names are Wu Han and Short Round. The first is a fellow archaeologist, he knows the local lore better than I do and is going to help with my research. Second's a driver and bodyguard, hired muscle goes a long way on these kinds of expeditions."

Anna hummed as she eyed the crowd near the airport, trying not to make eye contact with the fifty or so eyes turned in her direction, "...So, what am I then?"

"Huh?" Indiana said, confused as they reached the edge of the crowd.

Flying higher over the heads of the crowd and raising her voice, Anna repeated herself, "What am I then!?"

"...You're my daughter?" Indiana shouted in return as he pressed by the crowd, eventually finding the queue for the immigration checkpoint.

Anna rolled her eyes as she came down to hover over her father, keeping consistent with the queue, "I mean, what am I? Am I hired muscle too? Expert help? Navigator?"

"Uh..." Indiana furrowed his brow as the line moved forward, distracted by the upcoming customs checkpoint as he dug around in his bag, "You're... tagging along."

Anna opened her mouth to say something, but shut it and frowned. After a moment, she simply mumbled, "...Oh."

"Huh?" Indiana asked from below, nearly deafened by the crowd.

Anna sighed, shoulders drooping, "...Nothing."

A cold finger brushed her hind leg, causing her to reflexively spring upwards away from the intruding hand. Below her, a Chinese man retreated his hand away from her, eyes filled with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. Frown deepening, she flourished her nose and put her hooves behind her back as she glared at him, "Hey! Don't you know you aren't meant to fondle a lady's legs!?"

"Líng zài ròushēn zhōng..." the man said to himself, rubbing the hand he touched her with and slowly backing away into the crowd.

As the line slowly inched forward, Anna used her height advantage to survey the surrounding area. Shanghai was certainly a city large enough to compete with ones from back home. The sidewalks outside the fences containing the airport were swarmed with pedestrians, marching endlessly in various directions towards wherever they needed to go. Many were dressed like Americans and English people, with suits, ties, and nice dresses. However, a small portion wore rather odd and, she could only assume, culturally Chinese dress.

The streets outside the gates were just as crowded as the passenger terminal, with a few automobiles moving to and fro between rickshaws and even a few normal horse-drawn wagons. Squinting, she attempted to use her limited knowledge of Chinese to decipher some of the lettering of the shops and restaurants. She made some progress, but eventually gave up and continued scanning the crowd beyond the gate for her father's contacts.

Her eyes were attracted naturally to a few white people waiting for others to progress through the checkpoint. It seemed that most of those who were outside the airport were waiting for friends and family to move through the line, with the remainder in transition into taxis and private cars, loading luggage and discussing on the sidewalk. She did see a pair who seemed to be, conspicuously, not diverting all their attention to solely her and instead glancing between her and her father below her. It was an adult Chinese man, with a younger child beside him. Frowning, she looked around for anyone she could construe as a "bodyguard". Far off at the back of the crowd, she briefly spotted a man in a fancy suit leaning on the hood of a car reading a newspaper, locking her with a stare. If she was a normal human girl, she'd find that odd, but she passed it off as he noticed her attention and looked back at his newspaper.

Eventually, Indiana's voice came from below as Anna realized it was their turn at the customs checkpoint, "Anna! Get your passport!"

She reached into her backpack, undoing a buckle of one of the more secure pockets and pulling out the small booklet, the Federal seal on the front. Stretching out her foreleg and losing a bit of altitude, she handed it down to Indiana, who gave it to the man operating the checkpoint. The police officer looked between Anna and Indiana quickly, quirking an eyebrow at Anna for a few seconds as she handed him her passport.

"Can't uh," Indiana scratched his nose as the officer inspected Anna's passport, "Can't mistake that face, huh?"

Anna simply rolled her eyes as the agent gave her her passport back, ascending back up slightly as soon as she replaced it in its appropriate pocket. They finally moved away from the checkpoint, and Anna followed as Indiana finally walked at a brisk pace again, going directly towards the man and the child who had been watching them both this entire time. Anna hovered to a landing next to them, adjusting her bag as she did so.

Indiana, a smile on his face that wasn't there when he was talking with her, gestured towards the two, "Anna. Meet Wu Han," he gestured at the older man, who gave a nervous nod towards her, "...And Short Round," he pointed at the child.

Short Round pointed at Anna, looking up to Indiana with wide eyes, "Doctah Jones! Your daughter is a horse!"

Author's Note

Here we go! We're going to be going through an extended prologue in Shanghai/China before catching up with the main focus of the actual film! Gotta get those Short Round x Anna interactions in!

Expect longer chapters as we go into adventure sections. Action scenes tend to be longer-winded and harder to cut. Some of the original chapters (including this one) were 16,000+ words long before obviously being re-cut into smaller sections.

Warning: Chinese dialogue was transliterated almost two years ago by one of my friends, and I can't translate it back to figure out what it was meant to mean word-for-word during the re-drafting process. I know just as much about what the dialogue is meant to say as the readers do.