Indiana Jones and the Daring Daughter

Indiana Jones awoke from the most restful sleep he'd had in the past four months to the sounds of crying. Rubbing his bleary, puffy eyes, he looked over to his bedside table. The hands of his alarm clock read 5:42 PM. Right next to it in the crib, Anna hung her forehooves over the railing, trying her best to get his attention by screaming.

The last time he remembered being awake was around 2. He'd slept an entire four hours. Definitely a record length since his coma in Panama. Sitting up, he knew the drill as he got to work.

A bath began to fill, all while Indiana changed Anna's diaper. Shortly afterwards, he got a can of baby food - a high protein mash and put it on the stove to warm it up. Dr Richter had recommended over a month ago that it was probably high time to start putting Anna on solid foods as her teeth started to grow, in fact he'd noted that she was likely far overdue for moving to solid foods considering his estimates on her development. The Doctor was proven right, as Anna moved readily away from consuming formula.

Shutting off the faucet in the bathroom and adding soap to the bath, Indiana soon turned off the stove and plated the warm mash. After procuring a spoon, he began to feed the infant, who readily stopped her bawling to eat. Despite how hungry she was, most of the food still managed to miss her mouth and get smeared all over her muzzle instead. Wrapping his hands around her barrel, he hoisted her upwards and carried her towards the bathroom.

She was definitely heavier than she had been at the beginning of the year. He'd heard the saying 'they grow up fast', but hadn't ever stopped to think if it was literal or not.

With a foot he pushed a stepstool up to the side of the bathtub, sitting down on it shortly after. Anna's diaper came off, before she was lowered into the water, despite her squirming and the fluttering of her wings. She began to fuss, with high pitched screeches and tight gasps as Indiana began to work the water and soap through her thin coat.

As his hands went through well-practiced motions of scrubbing, he found himself becoming introspective. Over the past months, his life had been retooled around caring for Anna. He had less time to hit the bars - they were outlawed anyway - and even less time to sleep. Almost every spare second that he wasn't in class or bussing tables at Colosimo's was spent around this infant, tending to its every need.

He had been sure he would've hated it. The drag and dread he felt at needing to render the care necessary was one of the major things weighing on his mind as he came home to Chicago. Yet, despite it all, it somehow felt... worth it?

Her big, pinkish eyes squeezed shut as Indiana raked a scrub brush through her poofy, greyscale mane. Indiana had always been told that taking care of a plant or adopting a pet was good for the mind and soul. Marcus had recommended he do something of the sort when they first became friends - shortly after Indiana arrived home from the War. Absorbed in study and work, Indiana had never gotten the chance to pursue either.

It was simply easier to drown sorrows. In some cases, alcohol was cheaper than water... at least before Prohibition. He'd tried smoking once or twice as a cheap way to relieve the stress, but could never quite get a taste for the tobacco. It would be healthy for his lungs if he smoked more, this much he knew, but it was just easier to forget himself in work and recreation than to pick up new, healthy habits.

Indiana Jones finally put his finger on why he was no longer annoyed and angry at Anna. It wasn't just the fact that her colic had gone away, it was the fact that some of his nightmares had gone away, it was the fact that when he looked into her eyes he knew he mattered to somebody, it was her calming right down when he picked her up out of Marcus's arms, and it was the possibility that some day she would be able to express appreciation for it.

A dog might be loyal for life to a kind master. A plant might create a beautiful bloom or yield fresh fruit. He had had the feeling for a long time now that Anna was more than either of those.

Was it selfish to think of her as a 'project'? Something he tinkered on, like those people who assembled their own automobiles or built radio sets at home, just to give him the satisfaction of a job well done in the end? Was he that shallow? Assuming she was just like any child on the inside, would he just be keeping her around for his own satisfaction?

A wince. No, no amount of shallow satisfaction would counterbalance the amount of blood, sweat, and tears he'd already put into her for just a few months of parenting. While every waking moment he wished there was an easier way to keep a child maintained, he absolutely felt no compulsion to give up when the going got tough. That's probably what demarcated a parent from a caregiver, then? Never giving up and stopping caring, even when things got unreasonably tough?

He growled at himself at his frustration, moving down to scrub Anna's body.

Was he just being foolish to think he should keep her? Adopt her as his own? A single father, still wet behind the ears. He imagined the scorn of his peers and teachers, wondering if he had obtained a bastard child. Of course, the reality would be even stranger - though he'd have to keep it low key. The reporters would tear them apart if it meant they could sell a few more papers. In all likelihood, he was better off to pat himself on the back for a job well done and let the cards fall where they may when the scientists eventually took her.

What kind of life would it be for the child, if he kept her? Assuming she was like any other human, she'd be ostracized if she got within a mile of other children. She'd have to be privately tutored, like Indiana was when he was young, and would probably grow up very lonely. Indiana knew how terrible it was to be raised by a single father- was it going to be any different if she never got a chance to know her mother?

There was the financial situation, as well. She was going to, very soon, outgrow her crib and his current living situation would soon just be impractical for the two of them. If he was going to move out, he'd need to take on more hours... and likely lose out on keeping his bank loans in check. No loans from the bank and no savings meant he would likely not be able to pay for his final year of bachelor studies. Perhaps Brody would cover his financial shortcomings... but the last thing Indiana wanted was another man bailing him out.

As he worked his fingers through her tiny, fluffy wings, he thought back to Marcus's advice. Was he willing to give up his dream career for this? Was this another Great War? An idea that sounded amazing in Indy's head, but one that was going to pan out terribly for everyone involved?

Indiana Jones finally reasoned his way through the conflict. Two minds battled for dominance in his head. One side came from a deep, visceral part of him. A part of him always searching for reason and purpose to life, beyond buying a car or winning valor in war. That part of him saw the alien foal, currently trying to eat the soap suds covering one of its forehooves, as the answer to all of his problems. The other part tried to argue reason, reminding him of all the times he had chosen wrongly in the past, all the reasons why it was a bad idea in the present, and simply trying to keep him from hurting himself in the future.

It was too late, though, and Indiana's lips drew into a tight line as he finished scrubbing Anna down. Looking up into her eyes, which stared right back into his, he made his decision.

"I dunno what it's gonna take," Indiana said, voice somber, "I dunno how I'm gonna figure this out... but I think I wanna give being your father a shot," a weak chuckle as he ran a thumb across her cheek, "Indiana Jones has been through more tight scrapes than any guy his age ought to be through. Every time I've made it out though. This time we've got to make it out together."

Anna responded by regurgitating a bit of her previous meal into the bathwater. Some of it splashed onto the sleeve of Indiana's pijamas on the way down.

With a sigh, Indiana quickly extricated Anna from the bath and began to towel her down. Her fur absorbed more water than the average baby, and it took an extra towel to truly get her dry. She was less fussy than usual, though, and began to babble to herself as Indiana set her on the ground and went about draining and cleaning the bathtub.

"Jababa..." she babbled, picking up one of Indiana's old slippers from underneath the sink. Indiana paid her no mind, using the suds still in the basin to scrub some of the collecting muck along the sides of the bathtub... that is, until she spoke again. This time, it was in a single, pronounced word: "Jones!"

"Jones!" Anna repeated, looking straight into the eyes of the fedora-toting man crouching in front of her.

Taking the microphone of the dictaphone away from Anna's muzzle and placing it back on its hook, Dr. Johan Richter raised a hand to his chin, "We recorded the beginnings of sylabyl formations and pattern correlation. It seems we were right, language development was just around the corner."

Marcus Brody wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, eyes wide and hands quivering, "R-Remarkable... I never thought I'd live to see the day. Humanity is not the only intelligent life within our universe."

"Now, philosophers must tackle an entirely new dimension to the intelligent life debate!" Johan chuckled, reaching for his eyes and displacing his glasses to rub them, "We shall have to monitor her neural development very, very closely from here on out. Every emotional and intellectual breakthrough must be carefully recorded."

A pause, "Well, Mr Jones, your time of suffering has come to an end. I believe this will be more than enough to send to the university. I can collect the crea- ze child, I suppose we should call her, whenever it is convenient for you. How about we discuss payment in Dr Brody's office?"

Indiana's heart rate began to rise as he looked up towards the German doctor. He had not yet relayed his feelings to Marcus, yet he had found himself confronted. It was probably now... or never. Time to keep a promise, and pray that he wasn't going to regret it. He took a deep breath as he stood, every part of his logical mind screaming at him to keep silent.

"...Listen, I need to say something," Indiana Jones sighed, placing his hands in his pockets.

Dr Richter took off his glasses, making casual eye contact with Indiana as he waited for the younger man to continue. Marcus Brody raised an eyebrow, folding his arms. A look on Marcus's face told Indiana that he had a suspicion as to what was about to be said. Still, Indiana glanced towards Anna, swallowing the lump in his throat, before looking back to the other two men.

"I uh, want to keep her," he finally admitted, taking off his hat and holding it in front of his stomach, "When she said her first word, I think that just confirmed something I've been really considering for a long time."

Richter blinked. Looking between Anna and Indiana, he narrowed his eyes and said, "...This is some sort of joke, ja?"

"No," said Indiana as his lips formed a thin line.

Marcus bit his lip, looking between the other two humans in the room and rocking nervously on his feet. He remained silent.

Richter folded his arms, clearly still confused, "You... wish to sign on as her permanent caretaker? It would require you move... and likely the government would need to vet you..."

"No, more like an actual father," Indiana sighed, before sidling towards Anna, reaching out a hand to ruffle the back of her mane. The child paid little attention to the touch, instead walking shakily towards the dictaphone to play with it as Indiana continued, "The fact that she can speak proves she isn't an animal. We can't treat her like an animal in any way. If a human child was born with a weird condition that required study, they would remain with their parents while studied. I don't see why she should be treated any differently," a pause, as Indy realized his hands were shaking. Clenching his fists, he continued, "If you publish your findings, this city will crawl with reporters. Washington will confiscate Anna, and she'll be living the rest of her life in what'll amount to prison."

Richter's face fell into a scowl as he raised his nose and said, "Young man, I think you underestimate the seriousness of this situation. As Dr Brody said, this is a paradigm shift for humanity. Every stage of her development must be closely monitored. Perhaps she might suffer, but the greater good must be taken into consideration, Mr Jones."

The levels of respect Indiana had for the man were already low, but his predictable resistance to the idea made him roll his eyes - an action from which he had no desire to restrain himself, "I don't think I really give a shit, Doc. I-"

Richter slammed a hand on the desk next to him, "A-And what makes you think, Mr Jones," he spat, "That this treatment will be so miserable for her? Have you any ideas about what lifestyles and requirements may be programmed into her DNA? Do you think you could provide nearly as many material needs as a fully funded program could?"

"Shut up!" Indiana shouted, thrusting a finger at him, "What do you think you know about mistreatment? If they can put human beings in zoos and call it science, what do you think they'll do to her!?"

"Answer ze question, Jones! What makes you think you have all the answers!? This is unknown life!" Richter leaned forward, the two men's faces being mere inches away from each other as they shouted. He thrusted a hand towards Anna, who was chewing on the dictaphone receiver and watching the argument.

"I know that a life without a caring parent isn't much of a life at all!" Indiana shouted back, spittle unintentionally coming from between his teeth and hitting the zoologist in the cheek.

Richter, however, continued to belt out his own argument, unabashed, "I worked without pay for two months on this project! This is the biggest find of a lifetime! Of all our lifetimes! This is not an opportunity that is about to be laid to waste by your arrogant, hot-headed-"

"-So it's all about you and the money, huh!?" Indiana's voice had nearly risen to a scream. He tensed his arms to shove the other man backwards.

That was when Marcus Brody stepped in. Placing a hand on both of their shoulders, he raised his voice high enough to overwrite both sides of the argument, "Please, sirs! Please! Quiet down, quiet down!"

Indiana yielded to the grip of Marcus, stepping back, but still belted out another retort, "She's my find, my choice!"

"She's nobody's property, gentlemen!" Marcus shouted, waving his hands in a downwards motion, "Listen! Your goals might be more compatible than you think!"

Richter raised his nose, placing his hands on his hips as he watched Indiana, who was still red in the face and panting heavily. Anna, meanwhile, continue to chew on the rubbery lining around the dictaphone receiver as she watched the three men.

"Thank you!" said Marcus with an exasperated sigh, "Listen, Indy never said he wanted this discovery to be kept secret forever! He simply said she deserves a relatively normal childhood, and that revealing our findings now would ruin that chance. Johan, you must admit that studying anything in captivity pollutes any data collected. A lion who lived its life in a zoo acts much differently than if it were to be studied in a savannah pride."

"Any data we collect will be polluted, Brody," Richter folded his arms, "We have very little data about her natural habitat."

"What I am attempting to say is that much of her neurological and psychological development will be effected greatly by outside forces, in or out of captivity," Marcus reasoned, holding up a placating hand, "There would be two dimensions to your study: the physiological and the psychological. The results of the physiological changes should be concrete, while the psychological changes would be polluted no matter what path we went down," a side-eye to Indiana, "I am sure Mr Jones would be more than happy to allow you to continue your studies of Anna while she is in his care."

"I'm not going to let him publish anything about her," Indiana scowled.

Before Johan could retort, Marcus once again interjected, "Now, now, we can't talk in definitives here. There will have to be a day eventually when the research must be published. Dr. Richter has done work, for free, in studying her. We should not take that away from him."

Richter crossed his arms. Indiana kept a hard look aimed at him.

With a deep breath, Marcus continued, "If we assume we are to treat her like a human child, for the sake of simplicity, then I believe it would be fair that once she grows to the age of adulthood, that would be the time to put out any research."

"I'm no fool. The longer she stays with Mr Jones, the more chances someone else writes about her," Richter finally spoke, clenching his hands around his arms and wrinkling his suit jacket sleeves.

"If that happens, you will have plenty of research to publish a fully realized report. I am sure we will all work very, very hard to ensure you are credited as the first researcher of this creature," Marcus Brody gave a look towards Indiana, who responded with a reluctant nod, "Meanwhile, we can sent hunters to Panama to search for more of her species. If any more turn up, she will no longer be the only known specimen of her species. Perhaps she can even be returned to her natural habitat."

"I'm... not sure," said Richter as his demeanor slowly dissolved, becoming less angry and more nervous. Indiana took a deep, satisfied breath as he got the rush of winning an argument.

"Johan, you're a good man. This is the right thing to do. I can give you my word that your stake in this will be protected," Marcus promised, taking off his hat as well to hold in front of him.

Richter's lips twitched, "I would require that to be a legal contract, in writing."

"I'm sure that could be arranged. Indy?" Marcus turned towards the man in question.

"I keep her, you keep all this quiet, and you come to take notes when I say so," Indiana bargained.

"If other research comes out, I have the right to publish my findings on the spot," Richter shot back, "And I vill need to examine her at least every two months."

Indiana Jones nodded slowly, "...Deal."

Johan Richter took a deep, long breath through his nose. Reaching into his coat pocket, he donned his glasses once again, "...I suppose I will need to be finding an excuse for my extended absence now. I hope your relationship with her is as fruitful as you expect it to be."

With that, the German gave one final look towards Anna, before walking over to a nearby table, where his bag had laid unpacked throughout their visit. Slowly, he began to re-pack his notes and instruments, all while Anna continued to attempt to swallow the receiver of his dictaphone.

Marcus Brody, hands in his coat pockets, gave a stern look towards Indiana. The younger man raised an eyebrow in confusion. In response, Marcus gave an indicative nod towards Johan, then gave another stern glare at Indy.

Indiana replaced his hat, before reluctantly walking over, clasping his hands behind him. With a slight cough, he attracted the zoologist's attention, then said, "Uh, hey... I uh-" he suppressed the urge to heave a huge sigh as he managed the dreaded word: "...Sorry."

Richter gave him an unimpressed look as he looked over his shoulder at Indy, palms on the table next to his half-packed briefcase.

Indiana scratched the back of his head, "You uh... you trusted me, by letting me have this. I respect that, and I'm sorry for treating you poorly," he said, barely managing to sound genuine as his gut squirmed with harsh opinions and pride, "Listen, if we're going to be seeing each other a bunch of times a year, we shouldn't be strangers. So..." Indiana felt the pressure within him reach a breaking point, and he let out a hiss of breath and broke eye contact. From the corner of his eye, he could still see Richter staring at him, unimpressed.

"...Listen," Indiana said, before immediately questioning the words that were about to come out of his mouth. Shutting his mouth again and letting his brain reprocess his statement into a more palatable form, he lead into it with a stilted, dry chuckle, "Hey, uh, I got a real bad impression of your country when I was in the War, you know? And uh, maybe I misjudged you because of that."

"I could tell," Johan said evenly, "Herr Jones, do not concern yourself with me for now. Concern yourself with yourself and your new child, there will be no more bad blood from me, ja?" he offered his hand.

Indiana let out a relieved sigh, before reaching and taking the hand, "Yeah. Sorry again."

Marcus Brody walked past Indiana, hands still in his coat pockets, to address the zoologist as the latter finished his repacking, "I'll keep in touch, Doctor. I'll also get somebody to draft up that contract for you to take a look at, if you'll mail me your particulars."

Johan nodded, shutting the clasps on his briefcase before giving a polite nod towards the two other men, "Good day," he simply said, before turning and leaving, the exit door briefly revealing the sunny Summer afternoon outside before shutting behind him.

Anna looked around the room in a state of cluelessness at the vastly important exchange that had just taken place around her. For a moment, they stood in silence, both looking at her as tension diffused and hackles lowered.

"Do you think I'd be able to get the paperwork done to make all this legal?" Indiana eventually asked.

Marcus Brody shook his head, "Not unless the President personally owed you money," said he while giving a chuckle.

"Anna Jones," Indiana turned that over in his mind, "...That kinda name needs a middle name."

"Your mother's middle name was Mary, yes?" Marcus half-questioned, half-suggested.

Indiana gave a derisive snort, "Anna Mary Jones, Junior? That- I don't- you know how much I don't like being a junior."

"True enough," Marcus chuckled, "Well, unfortunately, I'm not sure what else to suggest. Not exactly a wealth of women in your life to name her after?"

Indiana's mind immediately went through the wealth of women he'd met and been separated from throughout the years. There were enough that he'd forgotten most of their names, none of them felt special enough to really fit what was going to be his own adoptive daughter. Then, one particular name bubbled up to the forefront of his mind.

"Katie," Indiana blurted out, fidgeting for a moment, before firming up and repeating, "Katie. Anna Katie Jones."

"As fine a name as any, though..." Marcus's brow crinkled, "Where'd you get it from?"

"From the man who made me promise to keep her," Indiana said, reaching out to take Anna into his arms, "Marcus, you said if I came back with the clock you'd give me dinner? I might've not found the clock, but I still found some sorta treasure..."

"It was a compass, Indy. A compass," Marcus sighed, before reaching out his hand and gesturing towards the door, "Lead the way, Indiana."

A test subject and a college student had entered the room. A father and a daughter had exited. Perhaps no law said they were family, but for now, an unspoken bond as Anna fell asleep on her father's shoulder was all that needed to speak for their relationship as a family.