38
"Ianto?"
"Yes Toshi?"
"We have a problem"
Ianto turned from the coffee machine and the morning cups to wander over to her station and pale considerably as he stared at what she had found.
Their Red Cap was out in the Barrens, in an area where there was nothing, no life anywhere.
"Fuck" Ianto sighed "a second dumping site?"
"I think so… satellite in range in ten minutes… he might be gone by then" she frowned as she clicked the keys.
"Stay on it sweetie, plot each spot he stays at for more than a few moments, clearly checking bodies and then when we have the Eye in the Sky we can check that theory out" Ianto turned back to the machine "Meanwhile, I will put my coffee in a Go Cup along with Jack's and we will head in that direction so by the time we get there you will have coordinates."
"What if he is waiting? It's a trap?"
"Why you need that Eye in the Sky to scope it out for me sweets" Ianto called over his shoulder, bonding up the stairs to Jack's office in two leaps like a bloody acrobat. She smiled as she turned back to the screen, the smile fading as she knew they were right.
How many more were here?
.
.
"Shit"
Ianto could not agree more, sitting back in his hunches in cat mode as they looked over the ground, his nose taking in the scents "I think… I think this one is older… has more. Our site is the new one started once this one got too full or compromised somehow"
"Agreed" Jack started to stride to the first coordinate, kicking the long grass until a rock rolled to reveal itself as a skull. Jack made a noise and stepped back "Fuck it. I hate that you are always right Tiger."
"Me too" Ianto grimaced, glancing back to the cat on the dash of the SUV watching them intently through the windscreen "Come on. Quick look with the camera, then retreat and let Owen drone the place."
"More?" Toshiko asked softly.
"Yeah, I estimate thirty? Maybe more in here?" Ianto answered as he stood looking around, then he heard a faint yowl that had him spinning as he called out "JACK!"
Jack turned to find Ianto gone. Jack stood alone in the copse of trees he had wandered into and now he watched from around a tree trunk as a man entered the clearing, looking around with a gun loosely in his hand. Shit, a double back. He had known they were on to him and come here knowing they could not resist.
Only… he thought he had them cornered. Silly git.
Jack could see the black and white cat in the distance, plastered against the driver's window now and knew he was probably yelling obscenities at the man while another cat slunk in the undergrowth. Hope this guy was ready to meet a Felinealiod.
The man stood in the middle of the killing Field, tiring slowly and then focusing on the trees where Jack was. Jack wondered if he could smell him or something then knew he could probably work out there was no other place to hide other than laying on the ground and had he not just tested that theory with a wander about?
A small tabby cat was momentarily visible running behind the man, the smoky grey stripes on the black made this creature look so small an unimportant but Jack knew better, clinging to the tree with glee. Jack held his breath and watched as the tiger slowly rose from the reeds behind the man, his body evolving from thin air as Ianto materialized with his final self being huge and imposing. Jack watched the man slowly turn as he sensed something behind him and then the look of horror as Ianto stared at him calmly.
"Meow."
The man's jaw dropped as did the gun as he stared at the huge rhino sized tiger with those human eyes drilling into him.
Jack calmly walked out of the trees and approached as Ianto asked in his deep melodic growl "Who sent you here? Why have you desecrated this place?"
The man just made a strangled noise as Jack let his eyes slide up and down checking for devises, his VM then waved before he was sure there was no other tracker other than theirs on the man's hat and neck where the tracking liquid had splashed. No phone, nothing to record... nope. Clean.
Jack nodded and Ianto swiped a paw out, catching the man and sending him flying into the tree Jack had been cuddling not so long ago.
As Jack pulled the semi-conscious man up he glanced at Ianto "Smell right?"
"Strong, human but definitely been in the company of this thing recently" Ianto agreed with a grimace, not really wanting to smell much as the rotting flesh surrounding them was starting to get too pungent for his stomach.
It was a relief to be in the SUV, the man handcuffed in the back as Moses glared at him through the grating like a guard dog.
Time to get away from this place of death.