Indiana Darling

A home for ANSK!exclusive ficlets about everyone's favorite on-again-off-again ship.
==War==
===Confabulatrix===
1.) Juliet is the Kamala Khan of your ‘verse. She calls the ship “Indiana Darling.” (The Indiana is from ‘Indiana Jones.)
2.) On a less adorable note, Juliet sometimes daydreams about the AU where Chuck-the-Elder got a Jaeger and concludes that she doesn’t like that universe as much because of all the glitches the first Mark I’s had to work with, and also what if she fell in love with her copilot, and what if something bad happened, and also what if the hypothetical copilot didn’t like the Jones boys, or worse, what if the hypothetical copilot fell in love with Andrea, because the Joneses might erroneously try to fight said copilot over Andrea’s honor, and it’s a major timesuck, this daydreaming.
3.) Before rationing really kicks in, Juliet works with Andrea to conspire for there to be cookies, and to have it fall out that there are only so many left AND WOULDN’T IT BE NICE IF JACKSON SAVED SOME FOR CHARLOTTE, SEEING AS HOW SHE’S BEEN BUSY WORKING ON JAEGER SPECS ALL DAY AND HASN’T HAD THE CHANCE TO HAVE ANY?
4.) The plan is a success, and the sharing-of-the-last-cookies almost becomes a regular thing, before the Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cinnamon Incident of (Insert Applicable Year Here), at which point no one speaks of cookies because a.) there are not, nor will there be more cookies, and b.) cookies are now the codeword for ‘ill-advised sexual encounters.’ (Not the parties for whom cookies became a Thing, it was techs on another Jaeger’s team that ruined cookies for everyone.)
5.) A new group of techs transfers in, one of whom develops (against all reason or sense) a crush on Jackson. They are informed, in no uncertain terms, that Jackson is absolutely the woooooooooooorst ever, they would not want to pursue a relationship with him, he’s a total asshole, no why would you want to do that, and-besides-he’s-totally-taken-it’s-just-not-Facebook-official-yet-shhhhh-don’t-tell-anyone. (Team Indiana Darling is trying very hard to protect their budding ‘ship by warding off potential competition.)
6.) Team Indiana Darling actually splinters into several factions before Jackson effs up all possibility of it actually happening over baby names and whether or not they’d have a boy or a girl first, if they were the hypothetically actually get together and spawn. They refuse to compromise with the idea of boy/girl twins, as so many hardcore shippers do, they’re very firm on this. The debate comes down to the likelihood that the Jones predilection for boys (going back three generations! genealogical charts were studied!) would overcome the slight background radiation (rumored to be) responsible for so many ex-Navy sailors having only girls.
.
=== Hundreds ===
Date/Timing: ~2017, pre-Mark III Gala
Setting: Jackson's room, Sydney Mini 'Dome; Hong Kong Shatterdome
transferred from the comments on "Blue and Black"
.
"Lemme grab another jumper—" Jackson ducks into his room. "—and we can go."
"Seriously, Jones?" Chantell, in pursuit, turns to Logan. "Is this normal for him?"
"Yup. His record is five and a parka." Leans against the doorframe. "Could barely put his arms down."
Chantell giggles.
"It was winter. And Alaska," grumbles Jackson, yanking open a dresser drawer and pawing through the jumpers.
A photograph flutters to the ground.
Chantell picks it up. "Is this Chuck?"
"Certainly looks like Rapunzel," drawls Logan, crossing his arms.
"Chuck Darling?" Jackson scoffs. "She's just a Cadet—she's just—" Shakes out a jumper—
Logan snickers.
Hundreds of photos of Chuck pour out.
Chantell hides her grin with a hand.
"—j-just a girl I—these aren't mine I'm—" Blushes scarlet, flails to collect them. "—listen I just—listen fuck—"
Dozens of pictures of Chuck scatter across the floor.
Logan doubles over laughing.
"—shit fuck I'm—" Jackson freezes.
Logan fails to straighten.
"/You," snarls Jackson.
"Uh oh," laughs Chantell.
"Figured I'd—" Gasps. "—do ye a favour."
Jackson lunges for his throat—
Logan dodges, takes off running.
"You'd /better run!" roars Jackson, flying after him.
Chantell composes herself, admires the array of images on the floor, shakes her head. "Wonder where he found them all?"
""He had assistance,"" smugs Chantell's mobile.
"AGNIS ...."
.
=== Collapse ===
That night, Jackson dreams of waiting for someone, somewhere, and somehow also of biscuits. 
He ignores the man trying to offer him cheese, and then a van plots through the front of the store and she's pinned under the wheel, half her face drooping, blood gushing from her nose in time with her heart, and not a speck of white amid the red in her eye as it rolls aimlessly in its socket. 
. 
===Colours===
From "Diverting"
I appear to be happily tripped up by the fact Jackson's wearing Wash's colour.
Indiana Darling actually look good in a lot of the same colours. Oddly enough, Jackson's wardrobe skews toward the ones they share. XD
Picture this: requisition forms are electronic and sometimes people (like Lightcap for Kirra) use them for clothes. 
See AGNIS, shipper extrodinaire, tweaking the colour requests to match Jackson's jumpers (since he buys his himself, she can`t really meddle).
Oh my. AGNIS is too cute! There's a fic somewhere where they show up in a 'Dome cafeteria wearing the same (non-standard, of course) colour. 
Now, if this is "Joneses vs Hong Kong" ....
.
==Before==
===Ovals===
Jackson knocks on Chuck's door. 
""I'm busy!""
"With what?"
""Reading. Go away.""
"I wanted--"
""I said, go away!""
"Okey!"
Chuck returns her attention to her paints (but not the streak of red on her sleeve from where she squeezed the tube too hard and it squirted everywhere except her arm was in the way), and carefully adds a little more brown to the brown and yellow and a touch of red mix. She stirs them together, then eases her thumb in and out of the puddle, wipes the excess off with a brush, and presses her thumb to her sketch book. 
A perfect, off-oval oval. 
Chuck repeats. 
Two perfect, off-oval ovals. 
Chuck works on a third, smiling faintly to herself. 
. 
A page full of off-oval ovals later, Chuck takes up a new, dark brown pen, and puts two dots on one of the ovals. 
Her eyes prick. 
One perfect bee. 
.
She tears out the page and pins it to her wall. 
=== Skinny ===
Date/Timing: Before they're a thing
Setting: Monkey House
A string of erratic tumbling sounds.
"Jackson?" calls Chuck from the kitchen.
""Fuckin' /ow.""
"Need help?"
A long pause.
""Yes.""
Chuck jogs over to the foot of the stairs.
Jackson, curled in a ball, eyes squeezed tightly shut, breathing very carefully.
"What should I do?"
"Help me up and to the couch."
Chuck crouches, gets one of Jackson's arms over her shoulder, tucks her other hand into his armpit, helps him to sitting, then to his feet.
They hop slowly over to the sofa.
Jackson flops down, massages his right thigh, mumbles, "Thanks."
Chuck perches beside him. "What happened?"
"Old leg locked up mid-flight, so—" Swooshing motion.
Chuck {fiddles with her braid,} stares at Jackson.
"What?" he snaps.
She frowns. "How much do you weigh?"
"What does that matter?"
"I want to know how strong I am."
Jackson snorts. "Don't sprain anything patting yourself on the back." Attention back on his hip. "Sixty-one kilos at my last appointment."
Chuck blinks.
"Now what?" he sighs.
"That's about what I weigh."
"Yea, haven't been this skinny since high school."
"Is 'this skinny' even healthy?"
Rubs his neck. "Not really?" Shaky sigh. "S'posed to be on a high protein-high fat diet 'til I get back over seventy."
"Is that why my smoothies've been going missing?" 
Jackson gets a funny look on his face. "Not ... always?"
Chuck rolls her eyes. "You could've just asked." Pushes off.
.
She returns ten minutes later with two tall glasses full of something that really isn't a nice colour and offers him one. 
He recoils slowly but takes it. 
Chuck plunks down on the far end of the sofa, slurps away. 
Jackson takes a sip—"Oh my god this is disgusting." 
Chuck shrugs, continues drinking. 
"No, I mean this is literally the worst thing I have ever tasted. It's like my taste buds are crying out in pain and nothing will silence them." 
Chuck has a third of hers left. 
"How are you drinking this?" 
"Good for you." 
"But it's so bad!" 
She peers into her glass. "I'll add less fish last time."
Jackson shudders.
===As You Wish (Pt 1)===
So here's the idea: Jackson switches to 'as you wish' instead of 'sure'. Chuck (who's pop culture knowledge makes Feng and Chao look knowledgeable) finally says "why do you keep saying that?" (obliviousness is wandering into 'subconscious is disallowing this perception' territory. I am not sure yet what inspires the change that leads to 'Right Here' (which, *U* HAPPIEST OF FLAILING THAT IS SOME MOST EXCELLENT PASTA!) though I do have the feeling that her wander around the wilderness helps. In response to imaginary critics, this is not a case of 'girl needs guy to be healed' but rather 'universe offers boy to girl for toughing it out' (not entirely dissimilar to Raleigh and Mako, now that I think about it).) 
=== Forgive ===
Date/Timing: shortly after Vee's arrival 
Setting: CMU DriftSci lab 
The nest cushions shift under Chuck's weight.
Jackson keeps his breathing nice and deep and even.
A gust of chill air as she lifts the blankets.
He shivers.
Chuck tucks herself in, presses her back to his, sighs.
Jackson sighs, too—happily—treats himself to a smile.
‒/query‒
Chuck murmurs, ""You know, idiot—""
‒Hush a minute, Vee.‒
Vee dims—
Jackson visualizes rainbows.
—giggles, weaves Vee-self into the colours.
""—if you /ever scare us like that again, I'll /never forgive you. You're not going anywhere, understand?""
Jackson swallows a squee, buries his face in the pillow, just to make sure.
.
=== Prince ===
Timing/Date: sometime after 「Loser」 arrives at 
Setting: Monkey House
Jackson's been huddled over something near the window for a bit now, so Chuck wanders over. "What're you doing?"
"Watching this bee."
Sure enough, a bumblebee bumbles around one of 「Loser」's flowers.
Chuck takes a deep breath. "You ever pet one?"
"You can /pet them? Without getting stung, I mean?"
"Yes."
"You're not just trying to get me hurt?"
Chuck rolls her eyes, tucks herself onto a chair, stretches out a hand, gently draws a fingertip along the bee's back.
It keeps right on working.
"Ohmigod—" Jackson covers his mouth, eyes huge and sparkling. "You're /royalty!"
"The hell're you talking about?"
"Bees are genetically disposed to recognize royalty."
"They're not—" A wrinkle between Chuck's eyes. "Are you speaking nerd again?"
Jackson ducks his head. "I'm speaking nerd." Rubs his neck. "It's a plot point from /Jupiter Ascending."
"/Anyone can pet bees."
"I dunno about that. Animals tend to, uh, maim me."
"Just ... slow and soft."
Jackson reaches out with a (nervous) hand. 
"Slow and soft." 
Jackson swallows, softly strokes fuzz. 
Chuck makes herself comfortable. 
"Wow," he breathes.
"Told you."
Jackson chin-hands, sparkles at Chuck. "I'm a space prince!"
"You're a nerd, is what you are."
"A /royal nerd."
.
==Early==
===Cold===
>ALC combined these two<
He perches on the edge of the mattress.
"You lost weight?"
"Muscle, mostly. 'm almost back to the skinny nerd I was before I joined up." He pulls a jumper off over his head, revealing /another jumper, which rides most of the way up his chest.
.
"Oh my god. You have skin?"
"Very funny. I get cold easy, ay? 'Specially now."
=== Fierce ===
Date/Timing: Probably fairly early after Indiana Darling are a thing
Setting: Monkey House bedroom; Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Inspiration: Comment!prompt from ALC
Chuck pools against the pillows, sighs contently.
Jackson lies beside her, fingertip idly tracing the tattoo over her ribs.
"Tickles."
Jackson's finger stills. "Sorry." A beat. "I've, uh, been meaning to ask ...."
"Mmmm?"
"What's this little guy's story?"
Chuck fluffs her pillow. "Why d'you wanna know?" Tucks herself in with her back to him. 
"Because whatever it's about is important enough to you to make it permanent and what's important to you is important to me and I've, uh, kinda seen the design before—"
Chuck rolls to face him, eyes narrowed. "Where?"
"Chuckles had it on his—" Touches the inside of his forearm.
She frowns. 
Jackson jazz hands. "Never mind! Forget I asked!" 
Chuck watches him burrow in the covers. 
Jackson smiles, sighs happily, eyes fluttering closed.
Chuck's eyes slide away. "Was gonna be our logo." 
"For /Striker."
"Yea."
"Oh." He furrows his brow. "'s a little cute for a Jaeger, ain't it?"
Chuck's eyes spark. "It's not /cute," she growls. "It's /fierce."
"'bout as fierce as a hamster."
Chuck yanks the pillow from under his head, whacks him with it.
Jackson leaves it over his face and says, laughing and muffled, ""I stand corrected, /totally fierce.""
==Established==
===Skip===
He deepens the kiss and her toes curl. She purrs.
His heart flutters.
"You okay?" she pants.
"Yea ... tha's the good kinda skip." He recaptures her lips.
==Very Established==
===As You Wish (Pt 2)===
"Y-you keep using that word and I—I don't know how to play on this."
"I keep using that phrase and it doesn't mean what you think it means."
"So what does it mean?"
"Did you pay any attention?" Jackson grins.
Chuck snorts.
"I love you."
"So this is more than making out and like-liking?"
"Uh, yea, a little—I am so completely gone fer ye, Chuck."
"I, um ...."
"'course, I've been keeping this for years."
"Oh."
Jackson smiles. 
"I, uh, like-like you, um ...."
"What are ye, five?" 
"Says the guy who quite literally pulled my hair to say he liked me."
"You've got nice hair, what can I say?"
"That?"
"Yea, good point." He leans over. "I looove you."
"Dork." But she's got that tiny smile—the one that could burst into something huge at any second.
"Guilty." 
=== Studies ===
Timing/Date: After Indiana Darling are a fairly established thing post-war
Setting: DriftSci lab; Monkey House
Inspiration: OTPprompt
""Chuck! Notes!"" hollers Caitlin from the depths of the lab.
Chuck spies a notebook on top of the crap on Jackson's currently empty desk, snags it and a pen, shtumps in Caitlin's direction, flipping—
Sketches.
Lots of sketches.
Lots of sketches of women.
Naked women.
Naked women who look /exactly like—
""Chuck!""
"Just a minute!" Chuck calls back, looking around desperately for a place to hide the thing.
Aha!
Into the bottom drawer of her desk it goes, the key to which goes in a zipped cargo pocket.
She grabs her tablet and stylus, taps a very quick email, then sets out in search of Caitlin.
.
Vee absorbs the incoming message from /Gold's /long hair-love-hope with a nervous twitch of data. –/query–
–Yea, Vee?– answers /Gold.
–/long hair-love-hope says she found the thing.–
–What?–
–Chuck found the thing.–
/Gold pulses /confused-frustrated. –Could ye be a little more specific? What thing?–
–Chuck found your notebook in the lab.–
/Gold sighs. –Which notebook?–
–/long hair-love-hope-smooth skin-no braid-no clo— –
–/panic-fear of death-shame–
Vee dives into /Gold, fights to pull fraying edges together, coos.
/Gold solidifies, dimmed and slinky. –I'm soooooo dead.–
–/query–
–You'll understand when you're older.–
Vee pouts silver sparkles.
.
Jackson, burritoed in an electric blanket on the upstairs couch, awaiting his inevitable demise, cringes at the sound of approaching footsteps.
Chuck looms into view, shoves the notebook into his chest.
He greys. "You found—" Swallows. "—this?"
"Uh huh."
"And you opened it?"
"Uh huh."
"And you found the, uh, studies?"
Chuck lowers her chin.
Jackson rubs the back of his neck. "Umm, well, you see, I have a hard time with figure drawing? A-and my new project kinda needs figures, so I had to practice ...?" Hangs his head
"By drawing me." 
"I wanted to work from as perfect a model as I know, so, yea."
"A lot."
Jackson chuckles weakly. "Practice makes perfect?"
Chuck's eyebrow quirks. "Naked."
He turns a brilliant scarlet. "Yeeeaaaa. I shoulda ask—"
"You left sketches of me naked in a public lab."
"Yea. That was dumb."
Chuck looms larger. 
"I won't—I'll keep any not-safe-for-work drawing out of work, promise."
Chuck's shoulders relax; she seems to smug and climbs into his lap, drapes—
"Hip!" Jackson chokes.
—climbs off quick as she can, tucks up against his good side, drapes her arms around his neck.
"Thanks, but, uh, /why?"
"Because I think you need more practice drawing me."
"Oh." Absently nuzzles her hair, freezes. "Oh!"
"Hot showers help your leg, too, ay?"
"I like where this is headed," he hums.
"Then let's get going." Chuck tugs Jackson to his feet, lends him an arm for the hobble to the washroom.
===Nerd===
"Mmmrf."
"Whad’ye say?"
"I love you."
"I know."
"Ye didn’t."
"Uh, nerd?"
"My nerd."
"Yep."
===Alarm===
The alarm clock chirps and Chuck smacks at it.
""/Fuck!""
Chuck freezes.
"Tha' was m' nose, Rap'nzel," grumbles Jackson.
===Déjà Vu===
Pittsburgh, PA, United States
{by pickleplum & artificiallifecreator}
Jackson's waiting just beyond customs when Chuck breezes through.
He squeezes her hand. "'ey, Firefly." Pulls her into a hug. 
Chuck totally doesn't smile, does poke him in the stomach. "Not even from the same region."
Jackson smiles against her hair. "Doesn't mean you don't light up my life." 
Chuck hugs him back. "Thought Vulcans weren't supposed t' be emotional, Spock." 
"Yer forgetting the human half."
She kisses him. "Nerd."
"Yer nerd."
Chuck freezes, blinks.
"Somethin' wrong?"
"Uh, nah. Just a li'l déjà vu."
"Don't tell me ‘m gettin' predictable."
"Well …."
"Right then." Jackson takes her hand and pulls her toward the exit.
"Where're we goin'?"
"Don't know yet."
Chuck snorts, follows.
===Squee===
And on the other side of the planet ….
「WHOOO!」 
「Siqi!」 hisses Min. 「Preteen!」 
Fei Yen snuffles, snuggles closer to Min on the chesterfield. 
「Sorry.」 Siqi flops down on Fei Yen's other side. 「He said the line!」
「Lots of people've said lots of lines.」
「Good point. Sorry. Right, so remember [the guy who was there for a long time and friends with the Lings? He came back and visited that one time, implied] you were sleeping with—」
「Don't finish that sentence.」
「So his brother and Wash're dating, and in the universe where that Commonwealth Hunter has three arms? They're dating—well, they're dating there, too—and there's this adorably cheesy exchange and—」 she shakes Min's arm. 「They just had it!!!」
Fei Yen makes unhappy sounds and presses her face into Min's side.
Siqi beams. 「I needed someone to squee at.」 
Min shakes her head (but smiles) and strokes Fei Yen's damp hair. 「Hey, Feiby, how're you feeling?」 
「You're gonna want this.」 Siqi passes over the bin.
.
==Heart==
"Jackson?" 
"Mm?" 
"If I was there," she says, pressing a kiss to the top of the scar, "and we were together, I would make a heart out of cardboard, write my name on it, and keep it there."
"Your name's already there," Jackson replies, tucking her under his chin. "It's just in invisible ink." 
"But no one would see it unless they had a blacklight and I don't want anyone poking around in there and giving you a sunburn." 
"Does Lightcap know ye get really cute and kinda nuts after three am?"
==Variable==
===To Gird One's Loins===
Is to be prepared for battle. 
linkI wanna see Kirra at some function very methodically doing this before kicking someone's ass.
And if it's post-Indiana Darling, she hands Jackson her drink and the flower from her hair first.
Jackson can't decide if he should avert his eyes or admire the view.
.
"Jones," says Chuck. "Hold my flower." 
Jackson pokes it behind his ear, plucks Chuck's glass from her hand. 
Chuck hoists the front of her dress past her knees, gathers all the fabric in front--
"Your butt looks really great."
"Can it."
--folds it back between her legs, twists out two sections, and ties a bow around her waist. 
Jackson offers a steak knife. 
Chuck plucks it from his hand, steps from her shoes, strides to the first guy, yanks them away and around and puts the knife through their hand into the table, ducks around their flailing, decks the second guy--
Second guy crashes into a champagne fountain. 
--hamstrings the third guy and grabs their gun as they go down, and aim it point blank at the fourth guy. 
Fourth guy drops their knife. 
Jackson quickly sips Chuck's drink to keep from applauding.
Chuck saunters over.
Jackson quickly offers her flower still drinking her champagne, damnit-- 
"Looks better on you." Saunters away. 
"No, it doesn't, it looks better on you because everything looks better on you including my stuff because you're gorgeous!"
""I'm getting a new drink!""
==Endurance==
A random thought after glancing over the dates ...
I've made a big deal about Jackson's endurance being his main asset as a Ranger. Looking at the 2028 date given for the blacklight & sunburn incident, it looks like Jackson spends something like TEN-AND-A-HALF YEARS chasing Wash with minimal reward. A whole different kind of endurance, that.
... this seems to be shaking loose words for a 2019 January Jackson-Psychologist meeting. 
That sounds like an interesting little ficlet which I would love to see.
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