Some more information, please, Professor Jones [Fred+Indy]
Sam and Dean had done their thing, and eventually Fred was dropped back at Angel Investigations; but, Fred wasn't ready to go in. She wanted to ask some questions she was pretty sure she already had the answers to. For now, those were questions that were safer to ask.
To: Professor Indiana Jones <i.jones@cityu.edu> From: Fred Burkle <brainygirl@citynet.com>
Professor Jones,
I'm Fred Burkle. I have heard a good bit about you, and I was wondering if we could talk about an item I just recently received. I would appreciate any help you could give; let me know if you can meet.
Fred.
Fred could have taken a picture of the pendant Sam gave her, but she really wasn't sure how she could best do that without taking it off. Unfortunately taking the pendant off was not a choice, seeing as Sam had told her to never take it off. Then again, what could it mean if she did take it off? Well, she wasn't going to try to find out; she was going to do as he said, for now, until she found something else that might be better. It wasn't like she was going to go out and get a similar tattoo; she didn't think the tattoo would look all that great on her. It worked for Sam though...
The physicist stared at the computer screen; she'd more or less stolen a moment at one of the City's internet cafes. Sure, she could have gone to the Library, but if this was who she thought it was, then he'd be able to give her some information, seeing as he knew all that history stuff. Plus, she wasn't sure Wesley would like to discuss the pendant if he knew who gave it to her, but then Wesley had never been the type to put off learning new things or discovering bits of the occult. For now, she'd just visit with the Professor.
Indy knew that the... thing... on his desk was a computer. He knew that mostly, it functioned like a typewriter. He could deal with that. He could always manage on a typewriter--certainly better than most professors from his time and place, anyway. Probably because he was one of the youngest among them, and certainly one of the most adaptable.
But this was seriously problematic.
While focused on which parts of the Michelson text to use for today's lecture-- a lecture he could care less about, now that he had his mind split between his father and Inara Serra-- there was a chiming noise. Indy looked up from the book at at the computer monitor.
YOU HAVE MAIL.
It said this in a box. The box seemed to be floating and waiting for him to do something. Indy furrowed his eyebrows.
"Andrea!"
The call wasn't loud, but it had urgency to it. The department secretary called back to him with a simple "yes?"
"The computer seems to... want something from me."
Andrea laughed. He heard her footsteps as she came into his office and looked up at her, pointing at the screen.
"Oh," she said, voice inflection indicating that now she saw the problem. "You have an email."
"A whatmail?"
"Email. Electronic mail. Here." She leaned to one side of Indy and clicked a button on the mouse-- a device Indy still didn't understand. A new box opened, and inside it was a message. "There you go, Dr. Jones," she said.
She smirked. "If you want to write a message back, just type and let me know when you're ready to send it."
Her footsteps clicked away, and Indy muttered "email" under his breath, turning his attention to the screen.
He read.
An item. That was.... vague. But this girl (it had to be a girl, right? Her name said 'brainygirl') said she knew about him. This could be a huge help... she might also know about Dad. He HAD to meet her.
Andrea had hit the 'reply' option, so Indy started typing back. Slowly.
To: Fred Burkle <brainygirl@citynet.com> From: Professor Indiana Jones <i.jones@cityu.edu>
Dear Ms. Burkle,
Bear with me. I'm new to this email thing.
I don't know what type of item you're referring to, so I should warn you that my expertise is limited to archaeological relics. I can offer you some degree of information on modern pieces based on anthropological studies, but if it's something more from now than from then, if you catch my drift, I'm useless.
I'm teaching this afternoon but will be free until tomorrow evening. You can stop by my office at the university or let me know where to meet you.
Take care, I.J.
Indy grabbed at the mouse and tried to maneuver it to push the 'SEND' button. He had to use both hands but he did it.
"Andrea, don't worry," he called. "I got it." Indy smiled. "Oh, good," she said. Indy heard her laughing.
Fred had been a little nervous about sending out the email, mainly because she didn't know how the great adventurer would react to receiving email. It wasn't like computers were used for such communication in his time. Actually, computers were still in their infancy, just little embryos compared to what they would become - well embryos metaphorically speaking seeing as they tended to take up whole floors of buildings at the beginning. Not that he'd no much of those yet, would he? She pulled herself from a mental history quiz as she was informed she had email.
"Oh!" She quickly took a sip of coffee and tried not to look too excited. Indiana Jones! Indiana Jones, the Indiana Jones was replying to her email. Oh, she wished Wesley was around, or Sam, or Angel - Angel would get how exciting this was. Maybe. Charles probably would have. Jesse? She really did need more friends, maybe some female ones.
With a quick read, she just as quickly sent back a reply.
To: Professor Indiana Jones <i.jones@cityu.edu> From: Fred Burkle <brainygirl@citynet.com>
Prof. Jones,
Will see you tomorrow.
I apologize for the vague "item," but I'd feel more comfortable with you seeing it rather than just describing it. Honestly, don't even know when it's from. Just thought you might be able to help.
See you soon, and thanks,
Fred.
She absently touched the charm before logging out of her email. She also took the time, whether it was authorized or not, to clean out the cache and history. She wasn't taking chances, not that she'd done much looking into the symbol or anything like that. She'd only done another search on protections from demons.
She'd see Indiana Jones tomorrow.
Which came rather quickly.
She had been tempted to put on a very professional outfit to see Indiana Jones, but instead, she opted for jeans, button up blouse, and a nice little blazer, no heels, just sensible tennis shoes. She'd taken the time to make sure her hair wasn't unruly though.
So it with butterflies in her stomach, she knocked on the door, after taking almost an hour to find the office, which she was surprised took so long.
Indy held the Grail Diary in his hands, looking at his father's drawings and cryptic notes. A penetant man kneels in the presence of God...
He raised an eyebrow slightly and removed his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He sincerely hoped Dad hadn't just gone insane, finally.
His eyes opened with the knock at the door, and Indy couldn't make out a face beyond the tempered glass of it, but he knew it was either Andrea or the girl that had sent him the message. Fred.
"Come in," he said.
He put the glasses back on and stood up to greet the very pretty young woman that just walked in, wondering if the City could make this a habit. That would be fantastic. First Inara, now this?
"Presumption gets me into trouble," he said. "But I think you're probably Ms. Burkle. Please sit."
He waited for her to sit, and then sat back in the chair he'd been in when she knocked, offering her a charming smile.
"What is it that you need me to take a look at?"
Fred couldn't help the big smile. It really was him. She'd met so many amazing characters, and that was using the term literally and figuratively. Eventually she was going to have to decide whether or not she wanted to know if she was just another "character;" she'd guess that some people already thought she was well on her way to being something other than just human, something just a little strange. Or someone anyway.
For a moment, she couldn't talk, and for Fred Burkle, that was saying a lot. She just smiled, sitting where he indicated. The charm was hidden for a moment behind behind the blazer; it had slid to the side. There was a soft laugh as she finally realized she might need to say something.
"Yes, yes, I'm Fred. You can call me 'Fred.' Everyone does. It's easier. 'Ms. Burkle' is just...I'm Fred." Her hand lifted to fix her hair, not that it needed it exactly, but she needed to do something other than just sitting there and smiling like a complete idiot. "Sorry, I...it's not everyday you meet..well, you. I mean I don't meet you everyday, but that would be weird if we met everyday, met as in just meeting not as in just met, as in havin' lunch or somethin'." There was a nervous laugh. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I didn' know I'd be this flustered." In fact her Texan accent was a little thicker.
"I came here to see if you knew anythin' bout this symbol." She nudged her blazer over and pulled the charm in view. "I can' take it off cause I promised I wouldn'. I don' really know if even lettin' you touch it is a good idea, but you can look at it?" Which now that she thought about it could be a bit awkward. She just wanted to know what it was.
Smiling back at a beautiful woman was not tough. In fact, it was something that Indiana Jones had always done quite well.
So he did it.
"Fred," he said, nodding. He laughed softly as she went on, placing the accent and filing that away for future reference. Fred the nervous Texan.
He'd get to the part about why it was so interesting to meet himself soon enough. For now, though, there was something else. A charm around her neck. No matter the situation, Indy was pretty much always more interested in the artifact than the girl--unless that girl's life was in immediate danger.
Indy saw no men coming to take Fred. No tribesmen, no Nazis, no kidnappers, no anything. His eyes slid to the charm around her throat.
He stood up and leaned over the desk, but that wasn't enough. Not close enough. "Excuse me a second," he said. Indy stood up and came around the desk, sitting on it in front of Fred, and leaning forward.
A pentagram. Both eyebrows raised and lowered. "No touching, huh?"
He was going to have to do a lot of leaning. There was writing on it. "It's modern," he said, voice all business. "The metal isn't as aged as it would be if this were from the time the symbol was created." He tilted his head and read the inscription to himself. "The symbol's early Christian. This is Latin."
He looked up at Fred, face somewhat serious. "Someone's trying to protect you."
Indy wasn't sure he believed in demons, but he figured, sitting there, that if he believed in God--and oh, he believed-- he had to believe in the Devil and demons, too. He'd seen the power of God firsthand. His father was searching for the Holy Grail. Indy believed.
"It's a charm against possession."
Fred sat still as he moved to look at the charm; her head lifted, and her chest might have stuck out a little. She was trying to help, not seduce the man. Not that Fred would really know how to do that; she could probably do it, but it rarely was the first thing on her mind. His answer though...
She looked at him and seemed to deflate. She had guessed as much by what she had been told by the person giving it to her; her shoulders slumped a little, and her lips screwed up as she tried to think of a nice way to say she was a little disappointed. Her hand lifted to cover the charm.
"I'm sorry, Professor Jones. I sorta knew all that; it's just...you know this sorta stuff, isn't there anything else you could tell me? It's not like I expect to have Nazis come runnin' through that door to take me away to have my heart removed while I'm lookin' for the Holy Grail, but I am tryin' to find out why this should work. I've never been possessed by a demon; I've seen what they can do, but I've never been possessed, and I really don' wanna be." Funny, she had no idea what happened in her "normal" future. "It's just...if I understand this, then maybe I can help other people."
There was a soft sigh and a shake of her head. "I'm better at numbers an' stuff. Not that I've got a problem with the occult, but I'm still better at hard science."
Fred could have stuck her boobs right in his face-- it wouldn't have mattered. Willie'd done that, once. He was working. All he saw was the charm.
Indy shook his head slightly in reaction to Fred's obvious disappointment. His mouth opened slightly as she kept talking...
It's not like I expect to have Nazis come runnin' through that door to take me away to have my heart removed while I'm lookin' for the Holy Grail, but I am tryin' to find out why this should work...
"What did you just say?"
For the moment, the demon idea and the protection against posession was going on the back burner.
"Fred... you said... in your message that you knew me." He paused. There was no possibility she had been in India, or any possibility that she should know about his father's search for the Grail. "What did you mean? Why do you know me?"
Another pause. He wasn't really sure he wanted to know, but he was going to ask anyway. "Who..."
Better idea.
"What exactly do you know about me?"
Fred wasn't sure where to start. She'd seen all of the movies; well, she hadn't seen the last one, but it would have made her cry in how wrong it was for Indiana Jones. So very wrong. She'd even seen some of the tv Indiana Jones stories; young Indiana Jones, not the kid but the young man, was just as cute. She smiled absently at him then shifted a little.
"Well, you knew Hemingway, you got a book signed by Hitler once. You're named after your dad, but you go by your dog's name. You always end up in weird situations with very bossy or just plain trouble some girls. You fall for blondes easier than brunettes. You were in World War I, World War II, and the Spanish Civil War. You always try to get things back to the museum, but the Ark was never taken back to a museum. That part always scared me a little, when they're faces melted off. Your dad looks like Sean Connery. You and your dad kissed the same woman, she was bad. You almost had your heart yanked out. You never adopted that kid who could have helped you - short round, short bus, short somethin' I'm sure of it. You can use a whip, you can fight, you know how to shoot a gun. You're pretty smart in what you know and what you're sorta obsessed about, but not so much in other things I think sometimes. I always wondered how you can be such an adventurer and still keep your job at the university. Don' people ever wonder about that? It's not like you can just take a sabatical whenever you want it, right?" She did breathe somewhere in all that, but it never broke the flow of information.
Fred was aware of how nonlinear the flow had been, but she was giving him what she knew about him. It was probably more information than he should have had, and she probably should have asked when he was from before she started talking. Of course, she didn't mention that he had indeed found the Holy Grail, so maybe that was a good thing. Her hands rested on her lap as she looked up at him and waited for everything to sink in. She knew sometimes it could take a little while; few people were able to process what she said quickly, and even those few who could, they rarely liked it when she decided to do a vast info dump.
"I'm sure I know more, but I can't think of it ...oh! You got your scar by tryin' to scare a lion away with a whip. And you don' like snakes. Your dad doesn' like rats." Yeah, she probably did have more in her head.
Indy almost fell off the desk.
If he'd ever been the type to have his mouth fall open, this would have been the time it happened. Instead his eyebrows just drew together more until they were a line, and he tried desperately to process and internalize everything Fred was saying.
He took everything a piece at a time. Without getting angry.
"Hemingway. Alright. I have never met Hitler. I have a lot of fond memories of that dog. ... all girls are trouble, sweetheart, in some form or another. Hair color doesn't matter."
It troubled him... a lot... that she knew about the Ark.
"There is not a single place on this planet that thing would be safe. Certainly not wherever they put it. Idiots."
He sighed. "Dad looks like... Dad. I have no idea who Sean Connery is, and I sure as hell hope we weren't kissing the same woman."
"Short Round." Indy felt a little bad about that, and lowered his eyes. "His name is Short Round."
He touched the scar on his lip as Fred talked about it. "I hate snakes."
"And Dad hates rats."
He paused. "How do you know all of this, Fred? I'm sorry to derail your own questions, but I'm more than a little bit overwhelmed, here. And my father, as far as I know, is missing."
He lifted the diary and showed her the plain brown leather book. "Do you know what this is?"
Fred winced a little; yes, she'd certainly told him a few things he shouldn't know. She looked at the small book then at him. She shifted a bit in her chair; not one to lie very willingly, the physicist wasn't sure what to say. Actually, the truth really was the only thing to say.
"It's your dad's Grail diary. May I see it? Or will you open the cover for me?" She finally remembered what exactly Hitler had signed, and she doubted she'd see the man's signature in there; but, she had to be certain. She knew she could have messed up space, time, and everything else in between, which really was everything else.
"Please." Her smile was soft, as if she were trying to talk him down from a ledge, but not too condescending. She was a little afraid she'd overstepped her information giving rights. "And, I donno if all girls are trouble. I don't think I'm all that much trouble, even if I do tend to say more than I should sometimes. And, I know I come up with really crazy ideas, but may I please see your book?"
She could tell him Dr. Jones was okay; maybe she would after...She really couldn't blame him for getting upset about kissing the same girl as his dad. It was a little creepy to think about.
Indy fought the urge to jump back over the desk.
This was a bit much, wasn't it?
"What?"
The tone was sharp; it was one Willie and Short Round were familiar with, and Marion on occasion. He was protective of that diary, with good reason. But Indy opened the cover and held it up. If Fred tried to touch it, she might lose a hand.
"Fred, my father's missing. I think you already know that. And from the way you're talking, I think you know not only where I was when I got thrown into this place, but maybe where he might be *after* that point... and anything else that might help me not go completely insane, if that's still on the table for me."
Indy paused, considering.
"The engraving on your pendant works like a lock-- it's locking you away from demonic activity. I wouldn't let anything happen to it." Another pause. "Where did you come by a thing like that, anyway?"
Fred's eyes widened; she knew that tone, well, something similar to it. She'd heard it in a few people's voices. It wasn't so much that she did bad things, but she did have a habit of peeking, figuratively and literally, where she shouldn't. She relaxed a little as he opened the book, brow raised. Yeah, it was before then. She sat back; she'd remembered watching that scene. It'd scared her a little; she just knew that Indiana Jones would be caught even if he was wearing a Nazi uniform.
"I do know. I won't lie to you; I'm not that good at it, so why bother, right? I jus don't think it's a good idea to tell you anything exact. Trust me, I know what it's like to meet someone who knows my future and not be able to find out what happens cause I'm pretty certain my future isn' one I would want. The hints all point to 'Fred Burkle's dead' or somethin'. But, don't worry; I'll tell you this. You and your father will find what you're lookin' for, which isn't exactly the Holy Grail. Epic journeys never let the heroes find what they thought they were lookin' for. But you know all bout that. And, your father will be okay. Actually your father was okay cause technically it happened long before I was born, if you go by the year everything's set in. Seein' as I was born way after World War II. So, yeah, it works out. I just can't tell you more'n that." She tried her best reassuring smile, hoping it'd actually work.
Her hand went back to the charm, covering it for a moment. Her brows furrowed slightly at the question. "I work for Angel Investigations. I have to deal with demons, vampires, bumps in the night sorta thing. So, tada - charms are part of my work." Okay, it wasn't a full on lie. She was pretty sure getting into specifics with Prof. Jones might go against the whole "don't talk too much about it" warning.
"So, how are you findin' the City? Found any places to do excavations? I wonder if the City would provide you with somethin' like that." Trying to change the subject.
Indy didn't see the point in telling Fred that without him there, maybe things for his dad didn't turn out so well. He couldn't see how being with the Nazis, without the diary they wanted, could end well for Henry Jones. He just shook his head.
"Angel Investigations," he repeated. "You... investigate angels?"
Christ, he hoped not. Once was enough for that whole power of God bit. At least for him.
Finding the city. FINDING. That was funny. Because Indy had never felt so powerless in his life. He broke into an infectious smile and started to laugh. He never thought he'd want to see his father so badly in his life.
"That charm around your neck might have..." he raised both eyebrows. "Real power. I know something about things like that." Magic rocks, for example. "Who gave it to you?"
Indiana Jones also didn't understand how Fred saw the universe they were currently in, or out of. She didnt' see things as linearly as most, which might have partially explained why she'd eventually be the most nonlinear being in at least one dimensions existence. She actually felt for the professor; he was so very..."show me" - faith was always hard for him, wasn't it?
His question made her giggle, and she shook her head. "No, no." There was a pause as she thought about it. "At least I don't think so. We've never really had to do that, and I donno if there are really any. I guess it depends on how you define demons, maybe. But, no. The guy who heads up the firm; his name is Angel. So, it's Angel Investigations." There was that bright smile.
She leaned forward and gave Prof. Jones a soft pat on the knee. It wasn't meant to be forward or invasive, just reassuring. He seemed to be very much out of his depth. But, his next question caused a slight frown on the usually smiling and inquistive Fred. There was a soft sigh as she leaned back in her chair, her hands resting now on her lap.
"A friend." She didn't like keeping secrets. "I don' think knowin' anymore 'bout my friend will help you learn anythin' more about the charm." She hoped not anyway; she didn't know if the professor was possessed, and she could have kicked herself for now questioning her judgement. For actually thinking that Indiana Jones, THE Indiana Jones, could be really a demon in an Indiana Jones suit.