Indiana Jones and Wu Han stalked down the streets of the busy dockyard district, the sun high overhead. Chinese workers in plainclothes rushed to and fro, hauling carts and cargo to maintain the flow of trade through the expansive harbor. Warehouses and stores bustled with activity, housing fresh freight and starving sailors. Seagulls cried overhead and the wind whistled subtly in from the sea.

The activity of the industrialized area was what made his destination stand out so much.

It was a two-storey, stone brick building, reclaimed for use in industrial activities. Despite being prominent in its location within the yards, it was crumbling and old. Vines overgrew sides of it, some of the shingles had popped off, shutters for the glassless windows were on crooked, rusted hinges. Yet, the old building was obviously not abandoned. Several unmarked crates were stacked out in its yard, ready for transport, being guarded by men with sober countenances and shifty eyes.

A prime headquarter for a smuggling ring, Indy was sure. The fact that it stood out probably didn't matter when the authorities were happily paid off to turn the other way, and a lack of activity was probably due to the fact that the only legitimate cargo these types ferried only existed to disguise the illicit materials that circulated through them.

Several of the 'workers' traced their fingers across the handles of machetes, clubs, and even a few hidden holsters. Being an American in a relatively traditional city, touring through with a rather strange form of teenage girl, Indy was used to attracting a few stares. Now, though, he knew all too well these weren't the stares of curious locals, these were the stares of predators, ready to leap into action at the first sign of weakness.

He gave a side-glance to Wu Han, muttering a quiet, "Be careful," to him.

Wu Han nodded, subconsciously washing a hand over the holster of a revolver stuck into his belt.

Indiana's eyes met the face of a familiar man. The same man in a suit that had met him at the docks just two hours ago. He gave Indy a tiny, malignant smile as he said, "Doctor Jones, good to see that you have accepted our invitation."

"I'll have to see Nurhachi before anything exchanges hands," Indiana said. The lump of cash in his pocket, the last he had of his expendable investments, weighed against his left breast.

"Of course," the man said, before looking to his side and nodding at one of the men lounging on nearby crates, "We will have to search you before you come inside, of course."

"Of course," Indiana parroted, spreading out his arms as the guard came close to pat him down.

The guard moved up his legs, then across his coat, before hitting something hard and frowning. He reached into Indiana's jacket pocket, grabbing onto its handle and pulling it out with prejudicial force. His determined face turned to confusion as he revealed a plus-size magnifying glass that glimmered slightly in the sun.

"My tools," Indiana said nonchalantly, reaching into the same location the glass had been taken out from and revealing a small brush and a photo camera, "Are you expecting an archaeologist not to bring along the equipment necessary to verify the authenticity of your relic?"

The suited man raised his nose and glanced towards the guard. The latter grunted, before shoving the glass back into Indy's hands and casting his glance towards Wu Han. Indiana moved to place his tools back in their place in his jacket, right over top of the revolver they had been concealing.

"Wu Han's not coming inside. He'll wait out here," Indiana said, causing the guard to pause as he moved to search the other Chinese man.

"Very well," the suited smuggler said, voice stern as he turned around and laid a hand on the doorknob, "Come inside, Doctor."

With a final nod towards Wu Han, who took up a place leaning against a nearby lamp post, Indy followed the man inside.

As soon as Indiana was through the door, the strong smell of the stink of fish and other sea life immediately washed over him. The poorly aerated interior of the warehouse was humid and filled with rotting stench of poorly cleaned areas. A thin trail of smoke hung in the air, incense if Indy had to guess, though it did not mask the smell. Chinese incense was rarely very heavily scented.

The source of the smoke became apparent as they entered a decorated room a few doors down from the hallway that lead in. A western-type table sat in the center of the room, a single object cloaked with a black cloth sitting in the center. Two suited men sat on couches to either side of it, and an elderly, grey man in traditional clothing sat at the head of the table. Indiana's eyes went to the two sitting by the walls, and specifically to the long guns resting within arm's reach of them.

A chair sat on Indy's side of the table, opposite the old man. If he were to sit there and his escort step out of the way, there would be nothing behind him but the door leading into the room should the two men with long guns decide to open fire. A standard corridor of death. Surely enough, his escort extended a hand to gesture towards the seat, before safely taking a position by the wall on the far left side of the room.

Indiana reached up and took off his fedora, the feeling of its worn leather hide in his hands cooling his nerves slightly as he sat down. With a slight grin, he asked, "So, do all of your black market exchanges come with so much firepower?"

The elder at the head of the table gave a glance towards the goon to his left, before looking back at Indy and saying, "In my own place of business, there no such thing as too much caution, Doctor."

Indiana nodded softly, before looking down at the cloth-covered object, "Is this the urn?"

The grey man gave a signal to one of his accomplices, who reached forward and pulled the covering clear. He revealed a jade funerary urn, lavishly carved and decorated with sculptures of dragons clutching around the main body of the jar. It was slightly translucent, bouncing around the pale light filtering through the smoke from one of the windows. The lighting gave it a bluish-green hue.

Indiana leaned forward, reaching into his jacket pocket. This move made hands tense on the handles of weapons, though all he did was give them a dubious glance upwards as he pulled out his magnifying glass. Their arms relaxed as he peered through its lens, examining the minute features of the urn.

He saw the signs of oceanic erosion, indicating its time in the hull of the ship. The craftsmanship of the urn placed its creation sometime around the 1600s. He checked for all the classic signs of fake aging, finding none of them. Surely, if he couldn't tell this one apart from the real one, none of Lao's men would be able to either.

It was unwise to attempt a baldfaced lie when staring down the barrels of weapons wielded by twitchy smugglers. Still, if he paid full price for the object, he wouldn't have a margin. He pursed his lips, feigning apathy as he placed his hand lens down on the table and claimed, "Looks genuine enough. Would make a neat side-exhibit somewhere, but it's more likely to rot in a storehouse for a few years," a pause, "I can get you a thousand for it."

An unsettling shiver ran down Indy's spine as the elderly man suddenly smiled. Resting his hands on his knees, he said in a confident tone, "So. This is the real one, then."

"Real, but not that historically exciting. I'm sure you could maybe get a better price from the government, but not before they'd chop your hands off for stealing it," Indiana jabbed back, hands tensing as his heart thumped up against the cold iron in his pocket.

The man reached towards a newspaper sitting beside him. The paper, aged and yellowing, rustled as he held it out towards Indiana, "Not a very responsible father, Doctor Jones. It is never intelligent to involve children in the business of gangsters and thieves like ourselves."

Indiana looked down at the presented paper. It was dated from 1927 and was turned to the page about international news. On it, printed in low-quality black and white, was a photograph of him and Anna on the steps of the Supreme Court. The headline, written in Chinese, had his last name on it. His eyes drifted farther down, past the paper, noticing a book wedged underneath one of the table legs close to him, keeping the table flat and upright.

"I can assure you," Indiana said coolly, moving his foot discreetly to nudge the book out from under the leg, "She's always in a very safe place when I'm conducting my business, just like she is now."

"Perhaps, perhaps..." the man said, withdrawing the paper from the table. His eyes moved back up to fix Indiana's as his voice grew low, "Only a very brave man attempts to come onto Lu Heng's territory when working for one of his greatest rivals. The brave man becomes stupid by bringing in so many vulnerable accomplices as well."

A shotgun and a submachinegun were raised, rested on the knees of the two guards and levelled at Indiana's chest. Indiana's jaw clenched as he doubled his efforts to work his shoe underneath the table leg.

"We have your daughter and young assistant subdued already, Doctor Jones. Now, I think it is time that we begin new negotiations..." Lu Heng said, reaching up to stroke his beard as the SMG-wielding minion pulled the charging handle, sending out a threatening 'CLICK-CLACK'.

Indiana's lips pulled into a thin line. His heart raced at the idea of Anna being kidnapped once again, and he feared some of that emotion came to his face as his eyes quavered. This had to be a bluff. Anna had been fine the last time he saw her and was holding a position at high altitude, where no man could get her. Short Round, perhaps, could have been grabbed, but the kid was slippery, and by now had a vehicle to protect himself with.

Still, the last thing to do when you believed you knew somebody's bluff was to let them know about it.

"Is this for ransom?" Indiana guessed, keeping his hands on his knees as his boot came fully underneath the table leg.

"Lao Che has brought many years of shame upon my family, Doctor Jones. You will help me assassinate him, or else great pain and suffering will befall your family," Heng said, looking down towards the urn, "You were sent here to retrieve and deliver his ancestor's precious ashes. You will give it to him, and it will contained a timed device. Do this, and your family will be freed."

Indiana needed to buy more time, make a distraction. Was he going to call them on their bluff now? No, doing so might escalate things. In a hurry, he came up with an offer, "I have US military contacts that know full well about Anna's status. They'll come looking for you. How much do you want to jeopardize your position here with foreign nationals crawling all over Ningpo? Why don't I just cut you a deal? Huh? Ten thousand American dollars, and I we settle this whole matter like businessmen?"

Lu Heng, much to Indiana's relief, seemed to cautiously consider the offer, "If your government cares so much, you can find the contacts to make that offer into thirty thousand."

"I-" Indiana began, before he was suddenly cut off by a loud, sharp noise.

BANG!

No bullets flew in the room, but fingers tensed on triggers all the same. Acting on pure instinct, Indiana flung himself into action, launching the table into the air and rolling over as the submachinegun began to rattle, punching a volley of holes in the upended tabletop and the chair back he had been sitting against.

Nurhachi flew through the air as the table flipped, smacking with a hollow 'THUNK' against Lu Heng's head. It smacked against the floor shortly after, lid popping off and a small trail of grey ash following behind it as it rolled across the wooden flooring.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, Indiana drew in a single, practiced maneuver as he hit the floor. Aiming up at the suited man who had guided him in, who himself was reaching for something on his belt, he fired twice, one bullet hitting the chest and the other hitting his neck.

Immediately, he whirled around and fired through the perforated table that was giving him visual cover against the two gunmen. The bullet travelled straight through the wood and a spray of blood splattered onto the wall from the man hiding behind it.

Indiana had very little time to lose as he rolled over again, trying to get into a position where he could safely clamber to his feet. The submachinegunner surged up onto the couch, finally getting a visual over the table. He levelled his weapon, but couldn't quite squeeze the trigger before Indiana grabbed the chair he had previously sat in, swinging in a desperate jab towards his weapon.

The chair broke against the submachinegunner's hands, causing a spray of bullets to go wide. As the gunman brought his weapon to bear again, he had a brief instant where he stared down the sights of Indy's gun. Without a second thought, Indiana pulled the trigger, driving a bullet straight through the man's skull.

With very little time to lose, Indiana spared a look towards the patriarch of the Heng smugglers, who was busy clutching his forehead and lying on his back. Reaching down, he scooped up Nurhachi's urn (and his fedora, which had fallen down next to it), making sure to replace the plug keeping the contents inside, before charging towards the door, awkwardly holding the artefact under an arm.

He fired off one more shot as he ran down the hall towards the exit, suppressing some backup from elsewhere in the building. The light of the noonday sun shone down on his back as he backpedalled out the door, turning around to face possible threats outside.

Several of the plainclothed gangsters stood around, surrounding him. The civilians along the road had dispersed. One of the smugglers gripped Anna tightly, a revolver placed firmly against her temple as she squirmed. On the ground to her right, Wu Han sat against the lamp post he had leaned against earlier, clutching his head as he looked around woozily. Five smugglers, not all of them armed with guns, but still dangerous nonetheless, against just one of him.

"Fàngxià qiāng!" the smuggler holding Anna hostage demanded.

"Dad help!" Anna screamed.

Indiana took in a breath of disbelief, "Okay! Okay!" he said, raising his gun-wielding hand and opening it, keeping the revolver in place with just his thumb, "I'm dropping it! Wǒ yào bǎ tā rēng diào!" He responded.

The sound of a roaring engine approached. Indiana's mind raced as the shadow of an idea formed in his soup of half-formed thoughts. He began to, very slowly, place the gun down. One of the mobsters, armed with a mallet, moved to disarm him.

The engine's roaring grew loud. Some looked towards its direction, only to balk as a truck exploded around a corner and rammed itself straight through the center of the road, brakes screeching. The criminal that had gone to disarm Indy was smashed by the truck's fender, quickly flying up and over the hood with the crunch of bone. The others quickly dove out of the way as the truck carried forward, including the man holding Anna hostage.

As soon as the truck stopped blocking their line of sight, the hostage-taker found Indiana's gun levelled at just the right spot. Before his mind could process what was happening, Indiana pulled the trigger on the last cartridge in the cylinder. The smuggler's gun clattered to the floor as he slumped, blood from his head painting the wall behind him.

"ANNA! IN THE TRUCK! NOW!" Indiana demanded, running over to where Wu Han laid and grabbing his arm.

Wu Han moaned as he was hauled into a standing position, "Sorry, Indy- they came up behind me and had a rag-"

"Not the time!" Indiana informed his colleague, who was likely still dazed from his dose of chloroform.

The truck had stopped only a few feet away. The man who had been hit was very certainly incapable of putting up more of a fight, but his friends were on the way as they got back to their feet from where they had jumped away from the road. Indiana opened the truck bed, helping Wu Han stumble onto it before turning around and looking for Anna.

Anna still lay on the side of the road, staring horrified at the corpse of the dead man lying beside her. One of the smugglers who had dove onto her side of the road charged at her with a long, sharp cargo hook.

Without even thinking, Indiana's hand went for his whip. It lashed out, striking the hook and ripping it from the man's hand. Following up, Indiana charged forward, swept his leg and followed it up with a swift kick to his side. Reaching down to where the dead mobster had dropped his (loaded) gun, Indiana quickly levelled it at two more incoming smugglers, sending them both to the dirt.

Pocketing the spare revolver, Indiana grabbed his daughter by the collar, hauling her up to his eye level as he screamed at her, "TRUCK! NOW!"

Anna, snapped out of her reverie, nodded mutely. Her wings finally started working again as Indy let her go, and without further hesitation she flew towards the open bed of the truck.

As soon as she was out of his grip, though, a sharp pain roared through Indy's back as a long, wooden pole smashed against him. He whirled to find one of the smugglers had caught up, armed with a boat oar. Just as the man reared up for another blow, Indiana fought through his daze to grab the oar with a right hand and deliver a hook across the chin with his left. The smuggler instinctively released one of his hands from the oar to protect his face, giving Indy the opportunity to rip it from his hands and thrust the handle end of the oar into his stomach.

The force knocked the smuggler onto his back, gasping for air as his diaphragm spasmed. Indiana turned to see two more approaching and took a defensive position, only for shots to ring out from the back of the truck.

Wu Han, even while fighting through intoxication, was able to limply fire his weapon, which evidently the gangsters hadn't had taken off of him. The covering fire was enough to cow the smugglers for long enough for Indy to risk a dash towards the truck. He heard its engine turn over as he vaulted up over the lowered gate and onto the truckbed.

"Punch it, Shorty!" he demanded, raising the gate and locking it in place.

Short Round's voice came from the front, indecipherable due to its faintness behind the glass window separating the bed from the cab. Still, the engine turned over again from its stalled state and the truck began to rumble forward.

A suited man, likely one of the top men of the Lu Heng ring that Indy hadn't inadvertently assassinated, emerged from the exit of the warehouse with a familiar-looking submachine gun. Anna screamed as it rattled, chewing open gaps in the flimsy fencing around the truckbed. The engine stuttered as Short Round quickly shifted gears, urging it faster and faster as they put distance between them and the Lu Heng hideout.

Breathing raggedly, Indiana reached into his pocket, grabbing the first gun handle he could grip. He pulled out the spare revolver, the one he'd stolen from the dead mobster. He opened its cylinder, checking the chamber. Three bullets had been fired, despite only two having gone off during Indy's initial engagement.

That was when he realized the handgun looked familiar. It was the small pocket revolver he'd given Anna for her self defense.

Closing the cylinder again and peeking up over the loading gate of the truck, he saw the hideout disappearing behind them, along with the smugglers. He checked his watch, they were still on time. Despite this, he did not breathe a sigh of relief as a spike of adrenaline-fueled anger came through him and he turned towards Anna.

"Anna! What did I tell you about staying with Shorty if there was trouble!?" Indiana screamed at her.

Anna shielded her face with her hooves, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! They were trying to kill Wu Han! I had to do something!"

"They were threatening to kill you, you know that!?" Indiana shouted, feeling unusually riled up as he lunged forward and grabbed her by the collar, "This is why I told you to listen to me! This is why you should've stayed with Marcus! You nearly got everyone killed! Even me, Anna!"

Anna was wordless as she looked up at him, eyes full of tears and muzzle twisted into a terrified gape. Her entire body shook as she hung helplessly in her father's clenched fists.

A deep wave of regret washed over Indiana, cooling the fire of rage. Immediately, he dropped her, looking away and back towards the road behind them. There was still nobody following, only a curtain of pedestrians that had split to dodge the speeding truck as its rumbled forward towards the sea.

Only a few minutes later, Short Round applied the brakes as the truck clumsily mounted the curb and stopped. The ferry to Shanghai was only a few feet away, currently taking aboard passengers. Indiana turned to grab his bags, shrugging them over a shoulder as he kicked open the loading gate and began to scrabble out. Short Round exited the cab ahead of him, eyes wide.

"You got Nurhachi, Doctah Jones?" Short Round asked, kicking off the blocks of wood tied around his shoes and picking them up.

Indiana didn't answer that, only looking back to the cab where Anna still made herself small against one of the walls, terrified. Looking away from her with a wince, he ordered, "Shorty, make sure Anna gets on the boat."

"Okie dokie!" Short Round said, mounting one of the wheels to climb over into the bed.

Indiana, meanwhile, grabbed Wu Han's arm and helped him up, the other man's legs still shaky and balance infirm as he limped down onto the ground. Together, they made their way into the crowd and towards the gangplank.

"I nearly got everyone killed!" Anna nearly screamed, jerking away from Short Round's touch.

Short Round blinked, "I sure it not so bad, now come on, we get on ferry now to make sure they don't catch up!"

"I- I was so stupid!" Anna hyperventilated, "A-and, the- he, the blood, he was dead-"

Short Round looked over his shoulder down the road. At this point, he was beginning to be more concerned about the dock authorities coming out to harass them for nearly running down pedestrians. He more authoritatively grabbed forward for one of her legs, pulling at her, "Come on Anna, it time to go! Come on! Come on!"

Anna, however, seemed to be beyond reason at that point. Her words became incomprehensible as she ran herself out of breath from hyperventilation. Tears streamed down her face as she blubbered, still glued to the floor of the truckbed. She was far too heavy for Short to drag out himself.

Short Round placed a hand on Anna's shoulder, locking her squinted eyes, "I know how bad it is Anna. I very small, but I know very much! You will breathe slow and come with me, okie dokie?"

Anna met his eyes, before eventually, finally nodding and accepting his support as she scrabbled onto all fours. Looking over his shoulder constantly, Short Round guided her off the truckbed, leapt to the ground, and sprinted with her towards the boarding ramp.

As the ferry cast off, leaving the smuggler controlled territory, nerves finally calmed amongst the group. Anna's shock and fear froze over, turning into despair as she continued to weep uncontrollably. Indiana's regret grew deeper as he sat on the row across from her, hands clasped in front of him as his mind slowly deconstructed the moments of the heist.

Wu Han had recovered fully after an hour's rest aboard the ferry. He explained what he knew, saying that a while after Indiana had gone inside, a pair of smugglers had attempted to knock him out with a chloroform rag. Anna, who had been posted as a lookout with instructions to fly to signal Short Round at the first sign of trouble, had instead drawn her gun and fired at the men trying to kidnap Wu Han.

That had been the bullet that had set off the gunmen inside the warehouse with Indiana. She'd missed, of course. That had been the first time she fired a weapon in anger, it was an entirely different experience trying to aim in an actual fight versus trying to hit a target in a range. Short Round, for his part, had simply turned over the engine and floored it as soon as he heard shooting, arriving in the nick of time.

Anna was too distraught to offer any meaningful insight. Indiana knew, somewhere deep inside of him, that it would be right to go and comfort her. However, the ferry was crowded and the seas were rough, it just wasn't the right time, and he needed to think over what exactly he was going to say.

Nurhachi rested in his lap. It had somehow managed to escape the scuffle unscathed, with most of the ash still inside. He could arrange to hand it off the very next day. Just one more night in Shanghai, then they would take the first flight out of the country. He could worry about finding connecting travel routes back to America later, once they were far out of reach of the mobsters.

He could talk to her later, when it was better. In the hotel, on the plane, back in Bedford. It would be better for both of them if he had time to collect his thoughts and address her in a calmer environment.

The ferry pulled into port in Shanghai by evening. The entire group was dead silent as they disembarked and headed for the hotel. As Short Round drove them across the city, back into the International Settlement and to the hotel, Indiana once again considered bringing up the subject with Anna. However, he sat in the front seat, and her in the seat directly behind him. As he turned to look, he saw Wu Han, looking back at him from his place next to her.

Indiana changed his mind and looked back out towards the road. He'd consult Wu Han for advice while Anna got a chance to unwind in the safety of her room.

Indiana stepped out into the hallway, looking through the door behind him. The room was dark. His jacket and fedora laid on a table by the kitchenette. A shaft of light came out from underneath the bathroom door, from which the sounds of a shower emanated. Anna was cleaning up for bed. Hopefully, once she was done, she'd be in the perfect frame of mind for a little chat.

Closing the door softly behind him, Indiana walked across the hall to the opposite room, knocking and saying, "Wu Han, Shorty, it's Indy."

The door unlocked and opened, revealing Wu Han's face, "Short Round is having a bath."

"Alright," Indiana nodded, leaning against the doorframe, "I need to talk to you about something, can I come in and have a chat?"

Wu Han gave a polite nod, opening the door the rest of the way and stepping aside to allow Indiana in. He swept the door closed with a shoe once Indiana was inside, saying, "I think I know a good place where we can get you a dinner jacket and suit. You will need it to fit in at Lao's club."

"Yeah, uh..." Indiana hesitated, reaching up to rake his fingers through his hair. He walked over to one of the two double beds in the center of the hotel room, sitting down on one of them, "It's not about the exchange, Han-"

"-Anna?" Wu Han guessed, walking over to the other bed and sitting down across from Indy.

"Yeah..." Indiana frowned, "Her."

In the Jones's room, there sat a closet. It had been jammed shut from the inside. The hotel staff had warned the residents that the latch holding the closet closed had rusted shut, and that a repair person was going to come to fix it in the morning and to try not to force it open before then.

Of course, that had been a lie. It was expected that Doctor Jones would return to the same hotel he stayed at previously.

The door was unblocked quietly, the wooden board braced against it from within being removed. Kao Kan peered through a slight gap in the door, seeing the room dark, Indiana gone, and a light from the bathroom as someone showered inside. Cracking a small smile, he took out a handkerchief and a bottle of pale liquid, beginning to soak the cloth in it.

Hopefully, whatever 'Anna Jones' was would still be as vulnerable to chloroform as humans were.

Indiana clasped his hands in front of him as he hunched slightly, not meeting the gaze of his friend as he began to explain, "She's just been... rebellious since the start. First, she pulls my arm by running away from home. Then, when we get here, she's just got a constant bad attitude. Now she risks her head and nearly gets all of us killed. I lost my temper with her, and I really regret it trust me, but lives were at stake."

"You're right, you shouldn't have shouted at her," Wu Han replied firmly, giving a lopsided frown towards his friend, "But... I feel like her attitude is more than teenage emotional incontinence, Indy."

Indiana remained silent at that. He had a suspicion he already knew what was about to be pointed out to him, and simply let the accusation come.

"I think she just wanted to spend time with you, Indy. That's the only reason she came," Wu Han said calmly, "She's jealous of the attention you give to Short Round and not her-"

"I don't give Shorty nearly as much attention as I give her," Indiana retorted.

"Perhaps. Maybe she doesn't see it that way, though," Wu Han muttered, casting his eyes downwards, "What she did today was brave, Indy. She wasn't doing it out of... idiocy. Perhaps someone with more experience in her shoes would have found a better way of doing what she did, but she knew that if she didn't do something there was a good chance I was going to get hurt. She was scared, but she put herself in danger to save me nonetheless. That is a very daring thing to do."

"Bravery can get you in all kinds of trouble. She could've just gotten everyone killed," Indiana said.

Wu Han frowned, "But she didn't. Maybe that's the more important thing she needs to know right now."

"How do you mean?"

"I mean," Wu Han grimaced, "There is no point in punishing her. You saw how scared she was. If you do nothing, or worse try and discipline her even more, her brain will tell her to never be brave again. Right now, she needs you to apologize to her. She needs you to hold her and comfort her. She does not need the rod, Indy."

Anna emerged from the bathroom, towel still slung over her back and across her wings. She adjusted the sleeves of her shirt as they stuck and chafed against her slightly damp fur. Looking at her bed, illuminated in dim moonlight spilling through a nearby window, she hesitated. Whenever she got shaken up like this, her dreams were usually very bad. The image of the smuggler, hole cratered straight through his forehead, still flashed before her vision. This night was going to shape up to be the worst night she'd ever experienced.

As she stood there, though, a noise caught her ear. The slight pad of feet against carpet and the roll of a sliding door. She didn't smell her father.

She turned towards a dark corner of the room, just to see a dark figure standing there, something in its hands. It took her a moment to realize it wasn't a figment of her imagination as it began to charge across the room.

She screamed.

"I mean, what do I say?" Indiana said, fully slumped forward on the bed.

Wu Han shrugged, responding with, "Apologies. A lot of apologies. Don't bring up anything about what she did today. Don't even ask for forgiveness yet, she probably won't be able to honestly forgive you. Just tell her you are sorry. You are sorry, yes?"

Indiana looked up, "I-"

A scream came through the walls of the hotel. It was Anna's scream.

The two men looked up at each other for a split second before launching into action. Indiana was the first to his feet, running towards the door as he ran by the small kitchenette by the door. With a swift motion, he plucked one of the kitchen knives out of its block and kicked open the hotel room door.

He gave his own door a similar treatment as he bolted across the hall. As the door flung open and light spilled in from the hallway, Indiana sighted a Chinese man in a black suit. He was in the process of wrestling Anna to the floor, who had been overpowered by his superior strength but was still managing to flail about. A wet rag had been kicked out of his hand, which he was attempting to reach for as he pinned Anna to the floor.

However, as Indiana stood in the door, the intruder immediately rolled over and surged to his feet, just in time for Indiana to lunge at him and tackle him off his feet.

The two of them landed on top of one of the beds, where Indiana laid into him with repeated left hooks. The intruder reached towards the bedside table, trying to reach for something to use as an improvised weapon. Indiana responded to that attempt by bringing down the kitchen knife on his hand, slicing straight through a finger.

The intruder screamed at his impromptu amputation. Another hand grabbed him by his collar, hoisting him out from under Indiana and throwing him against the wall. A click resounded through the room as Wu Han stepped back from the stunned intruder revolver aimed at him.

Indiana leaned on the bed as Wu Han held the attempted kidnapper at gunpoint. Slowly, he retrieved the knife from the bedside table, where blood and the remnants of a finger still stained it.

"Who're you working for!?" Indiana demanded, standing up and pointing the bloodied knife at the man.

The intruder simply grasped the wound on his hand, glancing wildly between the two of them.

Wu Han shook his head, "I know who this is. This is Kao Kan. He is one of Lao Che's sons."

Indiana glanced at Wu Han, then down to Anna. She sat, wide-eyed on the floor, "Are you hurt?" he asked.

Anna shook her head.

Indiana grabbed Kao Kan by the collar, pulling him from the wall and beginning to walk him towards the door, knife pressed to the back of his head, "Get out and don't come back!" he demanded, before throwing him out into the corridor.

Kao Kan, released from Indy's grip, quickly scrambled to run down the hallway and away from the two armed men. After double checking that he had indeed fled, Indiana pulled the door shut and bolted it shut.

"Looks like Lao intends to double cross us too," Wu Han observed, safely pushing forward the hammer of his revolver and holstering it, "Will we call off the handoff?"

"No," Indiana immediately responded, dropping the knife onto one of the kitchenette counters and quickly taking a dishtowel to the bedside table, wiping up the blood before Anna could get her eyes on it, "He could've been acting alone. Anna will stay safe this time and I can deal with Lao directly."

Wu Han's face fell, "Indiana Jones, you have got to be kidding me."

"No," Indiana said, frowning, "The Peacock's Eye is too valuable to pass up. Your debts to Lao are on the line too, Wu. We can't just leave."

Wu Han opened his mouth to complain, but shut it again as he gave a glance towards Anna. Fists clenching by his side, he took a deep breath and went for the door, "I-" he paused, "Am going to check our room for any intruders also."

"Right," Indiana said, standing and waiting as the other man left.

The door opened and closed behind Wu Han. Indiana closed the bolt, slotted in the chain, and moved a chair to block the doorhandle. He went to the other side of the room, making sure the window was locked before pulling the curtains closed. Heart still thundering, he looked down towards Anna, who was now sitting up.

"We're leaving. Tomorrow we're leaving," Indiana promised, "We'll be back in the States by next week. We'll be safe."

Indiana committed himself to staying up for the rest of the night, keeping watch. Anna did eventually climb into bed, but her night was just as sleepless.

Later, he'd talk to her. Once they were out of trouble and safe in America. Not now. Later.

Author's Note

Alright. I've taken some time to replace all the burned out bulbs in my brain and I'm ready to continue! Sometimes, you don't realize just how hard you're pushing yourself until you're completely out of energy.

With this chapter, we're ready for the Temple of Doom prologue. Those ones are already fully written, just still in draft form so they should be relatively easy to do.

I really toyed around with how destructive I wanted the breakdowns in this chapter to be. In the end, I hope I didn't go too extreme.