9

Ianto turned his head toward the movement about a hundred yards away from where the others and he stood. Several uniformed people emerged from the cave where he knew the portal was found. "Now what?"

Toshiko started toward the tree cover and waved for the others to follow. "Come on! Let's go around the top."

Without hesitation, they all ran for the overgrown forest area and continued to stay low as they raced after Toshiko. Ianto wasn't sure running around the hills of West Virginia was going to help at all, but waiting to be questioned by the police was a sure way to be detained. For Ianto that meant being sent straight to the Protectorate to be tried and, most likely, convicted for a crime he didn't commit. He couldn't have that. The only way out of all of this was to find that book, and he had a new lead.

It was the first time in a long time that he had hope he could find a way to make things right. In something that could only be described as a whisper-shout, Jack commanded, "Stop! Just stop a minute."

They slowed until they were standing in a small circle, facing each other. Ianto looked around, expecting the police to emerge momentarily. "What is the plan here? What are we supposed to do when we are standing on the hill above the cave?"

Toshiko shrugged. "I can't think of everything, buddy. What do you suggest?"

Jackson crossed his arms and shook his head back and forth a couple times. "Give me a minute to think. I'll come up with something."

They stood looking around the lush, green forest, hoping something would occur to someone to get them out of this mess. Ianto didn't recognize a thing. He'd been in the area five years ago when he'd come through the portal for the first time, but he hadn't stuck around to explore the forest.

He'd gone straight to town and had wasted no time going to the one his mother had told him to see. He'd gone to the Baba Duke, who had worn some very colourful, shiny fabric wrapped around her lower body that only hit a few inches below her arse and a shirt like a fishing net with a small amount of bright fabric beneath. Her hair had been large, like a fluffy, well-teased decoration fit for a queen. She'd had the royal air of a queen as well, and Ianto got the sense that she was one with whom Mages did not fuck.

With her help, though, Ianto had established himself in this realm, met Toshiko and began searching for the book his mother had told him to find. His time in this realm had all started here, but he wasn't familiar enough with the area to know the land.

Ianto looked at his friend. Maybe Toshiko knew her way around this part of town. "Does any of this look familiar to you Toshiko?"

"Oh, yeah! This was where the high schoolers use to come to party when I was younger. Man, we had some wild times up here."

Jack focused his gaze on her. "Is there another way into the cave?"

"Yes! It's about a hundred yards on around the other side. We could get therein about fifteen minutes, but I don't know if it goes all the way through to this part of the cave. We'd just have to explore."

"That might be our only option for now. Lead the way, Toshiko."

They followed Toshiko through the overgrown forest as quickly as they could step over prickly briars and low, leafy plants. They spent quite a bit of time picking the briars from their pants, but after some time, they walked around a small rocky outcropping that overhung an indentation into the hillside.

"Is this the cave? How do we get inside there?" Ianto glanced into the dark recesses and barely spotted a narrow hole that only raised about five inches off the ground. "The only creature that could fit through there would have to be the size of a..."

Ianto stopped and looked at Toshiko.

"The size of a mouse. Yeah, I guess I didn't think about the fact that my friends and I were all Shifters. I guess you can't make yourself smaller, can you?"

Ianto shook his head as Jack said, "Hell, no. Not going to work. Any other ideas?"

A noise in the distance, like a large animal crashing through the forest drew Ianto's attention. "Do you hear that?"

Everyone stilled, and Jack took off up the hill. He dropped to the ground and lay in the grass for a few minutes as Ianto and Toshiko waited. Tired of waiting, Ianto eased up beside him and saw several of the Portal Police, maybe close to ten or more, walking toward them. They were searching as they moved, and Ianto knew what, or rather whom, they were looking for.

Ianto whispered, "What are we going to do now?"

"I guess we just turn ourselves in. There's no escape at this point."

No! He was too close to his goal to give up now. There had to be something they could do. They just needed to get inside that cave. Ianto chewed his bottom lip, working to suppress the frustration stirring inside him. He'd been taught to control his emotions before they could control him, but it was one of the skills he'd struggled the most with and even now he felt his muscles tensing and a thrumming picked up in his head. They weren't going to turn themselves in. Still whispering, Ianto said, "Wait! You can slide, can't you? It's how you tracked me when I ran from you before."

He nodded slowly "I can't slide into a place I can't see or have never been."

"But, you've been inside the cave where the portal is. You could slide us all inside."

"They'll have stationed guards there. I could probably take them out, but that will only get us in more trouble with the authorities. It's not going to work."

Ianto nodded as thoughts began to race inside his head. "We need to slip by them without harming them. There might still be a way to get us inside and past the guards without them even knowing. Come on!"

Sliding backwards and down until he could stand without being seen, Ianto made his way to the cave entrance once more. Jack followed but when Ianto looked at him once more his facial expression made it clear he wasn't convinced any idea would work.

Ianto didn't worry about it. He was used to being dismissed. It hadn't stopped him yet, and it wouldn't this time if he could help it. Jack crossed his arms and said to Toshiko, "The Portal Police are on our trail. They'll be here any minute, but Ianto has a plan. I'm not sure what he has in mind, but it's all we got if we don't want to just hand ourselves over to certain jail time."

Toshiko's mouth dropped open and her eyes began darting around for a place to hide. Ianto didn't need her to panic right now. He needed to get her on board. Fighting every instinct not to touch, Ianto gripped Toshiko's upper arms, looked her straight in the eyes and said "Toshiko I need you to shift and run inside the cave."

His friend nodded vigorously and stepped back, no doubt ready to save herself, but that wasn't all Ianto needed her to do. "Wait! Can you carry a small flashlight with you somehow?"

"Use this cord to drape it across my back once I've shifted." She pulled her cord bracelet off her wrist, pulling it apart quickly, and wrapped it tightly around the flashlight, tying a tight knot. "Seven years in the Shifter Scouts taught me to always be prepared."

"Okay. When you're inside, stand as close to the entrance as you can and shine the light into the cavern."

She nodded in understanding and, in the next instant, was gone. A chubby, brown mouse sat on the ground where Toshiko had stood just a second before. "Wow! You really are a Shifter. I guess we both should have told each other a little more about ourselves."

Ianto quickly flipped on the flashlight and wrapped the cord around Toshiko's small body, and Toshiko scurried toward the entrance. He looked around for the cat. "Where did Janet go?"

"Trust me you can't count on his help in an emergency...or any situation for that matter. He'll turn up eventually, assuming we don't get caught."

"We won't. I know what to do."

"They're much closer now. They're practically on top of us."

"Alright, don't be such a melancholy Jackass."

"Melancholy Jackass? Did you just use my name as a general descriptor for someone who depresses others?"

"It's kind of a gift, but we should probably discuss it later. Now, lay on the ground in front of the cave. Toshiko should be able to shine the light onto an area inside that you can see. Then, I'll lay beside you, and you can span us both inside."

Jack stared at him with a wrinkle between his eyebrows for a moment before nodding and springing into action. He dropped to the ground and slid on his back until he was right up next to the tiny crack through which Toshiko had entered the cave. Ianto laid down right beside him and reached for his hand. The minute their fingers connected, warm energy raced throughout Ianto's body. Jack turned his head toward him, and their gazes collided. The energy swirled in Ianto's chest and lower, as the air between them seemed to grow heavy. It was a strange moment, and yet Ianto wanted it to continue.

Only the noise of voices above shook them free of their extraordinary reaction. Jack whipped his head around and moved ever closer as Ianto assumed that he searched the darkness for a sign of Toshiko or the light. "I can't see anything."

"Toshiko, shine the light close to the entrance."

The ground shook slightly with the footfalls of the police as they tramped down the hill, getting ever closer to their hiding place. Jack tensed. "What if she left us?"

"She wouldn't." Ianto cupped his hands and whispered as loud as she dared, "Toshiko, we need you to do it now."

Suddenly, light shone near the entrance, and in the next moment, Ianto felt a dizzying sensation as he felt his mid-section tighten and his head throb. The world came to an abrupt halt, and only Jack's hands on his arms kept him from falling flat on his face.

For the first time ever he didn't mind another's touch. He didn't quite understand how that warm contact sent a riot of energy spinning in his midsection but it did and he wasn't quite sure what he should do about it.

Ianto slowly looked upward, searching for Jack's face, but all he saw was darkness. Did he feel the same? He couldn't say. Yet, as voices sounded outside of the cave, Jack dropped his hands, and Ianto's thoughts turned to their more pressing situation. He waved at Toshiko who was once again human to flip the flashlight off and she did immediately.

"Are you sure you saw movement over here?" The gravelly voice carried through the opening in the cave, and Ianto stood as still as he could. One false step could mean they would be caught instantly.

"It was just a flash of something. I could've been mistaken." This was a voice that sounded younger and female, more than likely a new recruit. "Or maybe it was an animal. This forest is full of deer, turkey, and even bobcats."

A third person spoke, another female, but she spoke sharper, more authoritatively. "What about that group of rocks there? Is there a way in?"

Ianto tensed as the original questioner pointed out their hiding place, and he willed them not to see the five-inch opening at the bottom of the rocks. "Down here, Commander. There's a small opening."

"Could a human or any other creature fit in through the opening?"

"I...I don't think so. It's not very big at all. Maybe if they were small Shifters."

"Well, there have to be people here. Someone drove that car up the road recently."

They grew quiet outside, and Ianto felt the urge to move. He whispered into the darkness surrounding them "We should move."

Toshiko quietly flipped on the flashlight and pointed it toward the ground in front of them. As slowly and silently as possible, Toshiko led them out of the main cavern and back into a smaller tunnel they had to slide through sideways until it widened into a path that all three could stand side-by-side.

Ianto eased back to look over the smoothed, backwards C formed in the side wall of the tunnel. On the other side, he saw a bright light shining through the large cavern from which they'd just come. It was more luminescent than their own little flashlight. The glow of the light passed over the spot where they had been standing before they made their way into the recess where they now hid.

As the light swung close to the spot from where Ianto watched he ducked down and eased backward. Once he was beside Jack, in a low voice, Jack asked, "Anyone inside?"

Ianto shook his head, and he looked slightly relieved. Toshiko shone the flashlight into the tunnel ahead of them. "I guess we go that way."

"If we follow this path, will we come out at the portal?" Ianto needed to get back to Torchwood.

It was where everything started and that was where he would find the book she needed.

Toshiko shrugged, and Ianto barely read it in the darkness, but he could sense her doubt. "Only one way to find out, right?"

"That sounds like the mantra spoken before every bonehead move ever taken, but we clearly can't stay here." Ianto took a step forward.

"Let's go."