Darwin lead the group into a small village comprised of a dozen stone shelters a short distance from the garden circle. As they walked from the trees, Alex could see curious faces watching them from open windows and doors. He was surprised to find that not all the faces were of Asian decent and most of them were children.
The stone shelters were unusual as well. Not built of piled stone, like brick and mortar, but rather shaped as if they had been carved from large boulders. The symbol for 'mountain' was etched on each one, matching the rock Alex had handled in the garden.
When they reached the central building, Darwin turned toward Alex and spoke.
"Afraid I don't have enough room for everyone," he said, "I'm not used to having visitors."
Alex nodded, "How about just me, Captain Harkness and Professor Song? The rest can wait outside."
"Sure," Darwin replied with a smile, "Come on in."
As his old friend ducked through the door, Alex turned back to the team.
"What do you say we rest here for a bit? Get something to eat?" he asked Jack, then added hesitantly, "Darwin is... well... I think it's important that have a talk with him."
Jack nodded and the others began finding places to lay their gear around an outdoor fire pit. River Song looked apprehensive and walked toward Alex, still clutching her notebook.
Private Summers, we really must return to that clearing," she said, "Even if speaking with your friend does not win us permission to investigate."
Alex seethed but kept his tone low and even, "Professor... Ten years ago, I saw that man literally blown apart. When another mutant redirected my own power down this throat. We don't do anything in this place without getting his permission. I owe that to him."
River stared at him for another moment, before giving him a curt nod of acknowledgment.
Alex lead River and Jack inside Darwin's home. The young woman who had attacked Toad was also inside, placing a clay tea pot in the center of a low table. When she noticed the strangers, she glared at them and walked away toward a small fireplace. She lifted herself onto a stone ledge and sat, cross legged and arms folded, looking unhappy at the intrusion.
Darwin had removed his cloak and was placing small tea cups before benches on either side of the table. He waved for them to join him and the trio sat as Darwin poured each some tea.
"So..." Darwin said with a smile to Alex, "Do you want to start, or should I? I think we both have a hundred and one questions."
Alex looked at Jack and River before replying, "I'll start. I think these two need to know what happened in 1962."
Darwin nodded, sipping his tea as Alex began to explain how the two had met. He talked about Charles Xavier, Erik Lensherr and the circumstances that brought he and Darwin into the gathering of mutants at the CIA in 1962. He smiled as he recounted the group choosing their mutant names, showing off his powers, Hank McCoy dangling from the ceiling as they all celebrated not being alone anymore.
His face fell when he reached the name of Sebastian Shaw, the mutant maniac who had 'killed' Darwin by redirecting Alex's cosmic blasts. Darwin's face remained placid, looking sympathetically as his old friend vented his guilt about this event.
"But as you can see," Darwin interrupted, gesturing down at his body, "My name is pretty well suited."
Alex shook his head, "I still can't really believe it's you. I'm almost tempted to test and see if you are actually Mystique."
Darwin's face broke into an odd smile before he stood and walked toward the small hearth. He pulled back his sleeve and lowered his hand toward the fire. Alex heard River Song inhale sharply as Darwin shoved his arm into the embers. After a moment, he withdrew his hand, which had hardened over with a protective shell. He seemed very amused by the startled expressions on the strangers' faces.
"Adapt to survive," Jack said, echoing Darwin's earlier words, then asked, "Who is Mystique?"
"Another mutant, a shape shifter," Alex explained.
As Darwin returned to the table, he asked, "What happened to her? And the others?"
"Mystique... Raven," Alex said, "She, Angel and a couple others went with Erik after Cuba. They started some trouble with the Friends of Humanity before the Kennedy assassination. After that, we didn't hear much. That really broke up Xavier. He and Raven were so close. Then she just takes off."
"I read up on the news reports about Magneto," Darwin said, "Well, as much as I could while living here. The papers said he killed the President."
Alex shrugged, "We never knew for sure. Xavier refused to believe it at first. But, then, as the years went by... I don't know. Xavier opened a school. After everything that went down in Cuba. I was there helping out for a while. Training mutant kids to use their gifts. Until I was drafted. Last I heard from Hank, Xavier was heading pretty heavily into the bottle..."
Darwin nodded sadly, "Can't say I blame him. The guy's heart seemed like it was in the right place."
"And how was it you came to be here, Mr. Darwin?" River asked. Alex shot her an angry look. It felt to him like she way trying to expedite the conversation; trying to reach her own point.
Darwin sighed and scratched the back of his head, "That's hard to explain. I don't really know for sure myself but... after Shaw killed me... it was like I was just... drifting. I was there but... not there. Then, about five years ago, I woke up by the river. Someone was poking me with a stick."
He paused to smile at the young Vietnamese woman on the ledge. She had not moved since taking her guarded position and her face remained impassive as Darwin talked about her.
"Toph found me and brought me back here," he explained, "There was only the one house at the time. She had made it after her family home had been destroyed. It might have been just dumb luck to be found by another mutant but..."
"But, you don't believe that," Jack added after Darwin's voice had trailed off.
"No," Darwin agreed, "I don't."
"She's a mutant?" Alex asked, glancing at the woman's still form.
"She's like Magneto," Darwin replied, "But with stone rather than metal."
The young woman suddenly hissed a few words at Darwin in Vietnamese. He held up an apologetic hand and the woman fell silent.
"She doesn't trust soldiers," he said, "With good reason..."
"What about the other people here?" River asked.
"They've drifted in over the years, too. Mostly kids," Darwin said, then grinned at Alex, "I guess I've got my own kind of school going on right here. Trying to help them learn about their gifts."
Alex returned the smile, "That's why she called you 'teacher'."
Darwin shrugged, "I don't think I'm much of one to be honest. We all just try to help each other. Keep each other safe."
"It's wonderful," River responded with an honest smile, "That all of you have been... drawn together..."
As River paused, Darwin gave her an understanding smile.
"Ask me what you really want to, Professor," he said. Alex thought to protest but he knew, no matter his feelings, the Professor's questions were part of their current mission.
"Who made the circle of stones we found?" she asked, eagerly, "Where did it come from?"
Before Darwin could respond, the young woman, Toph, leaped down from where she sat, milky eyes blazing. The ground beneath the small house seemed to tremble in response to her anger.
"Don't tell them anything, teacher!" she shouted, "It's not their place. It's not for them!"
Darwin tried to calm her with a touch but the woman shook his hand away. Her empty eyes turned toward River.
"There were others, you know," Toph said with a growl, "Others. Even before Darwin came. They took us away, any of us who could do things. My friends! My parents! They destroyed everything around us!"
Toph slammed her hands on the stone table and it cracked, forcing the strangers to jump to their feet.
"You have no right to be here," the woman continued, "I want you, and all of your people, to leave! And don't come back!"
River held her hands up in a sign of truce. She glanced between the young woman and Darwin before gesturing toward her fallen notebook.
"May I show you something?" she asked, "From my ledger?"
Toph's fingers dug into the rock as she replied, "No. I wouldn't be able to see anything you had written."
"Then, may I show your teacher?" River asked, "I believe... it will help explain why it is so important for me to understand that place. Why you made it."
Darwin stood and put a hand on Toph's shoulder. She turned her head toward him and, grudgingly, nodded. He walked over to River, who handed him the red bound notebook opened to the page she wished him to see. Darwin read over her diagram of the twelve symbols connected by beams to a center point. The image was the same shape as Toph's stone garden and the ancient marking on the left most point was strangely similar to the character for 'mountain' that the young stone shaper favored.
"I don't understand," Darwin said, meeting River's gaze.
"Neither do I," she replied, "I have found those symbols and that pattern all across Earth's history. And now, I find it here. That's why I need to examine that stone circle. We are here to repair a broken point in time and Toph's creation may give us a clue to how that can be done."
Darwin frowned, obviously confused by the Professor's book as well as her words.
"Okay," he said slowly, "But first, now that you know our story, why don't you tell us the rest of yours... and then... we'll decide if we will help you."
Toynbee crouched near the fire pit outside of Darwin's house, stewing quietly about being caught off guard by the woman at the circle of stones. It was not usual for someone to get the jump on him like she had. And then Captain Harkness had said something about her being blind. How could he let a bloody blind woman sneak up on him like that? He supposed maybe she was a mutant since she was here with Private Summer's old friend but still, he could not help letting it bug him.
The odd little village was quiet. None of the other residents had approached the team, though he had seen a few faces peeking out from windows. Summers, Professor Song and Captain Harkness had been in the stone house for nearly forty-five minutes. The rest of them had eaten a small meal and were now just waiting to hear what they would do next.
With a sigh, Toynbee checked the positions of his team, the other soldiers keeping watch on the peaceful houses as well as the jungle. Barnes was treading a rough circle around the village. Ink was also walking, smoking cigarettes and looking bored. Haze and Malloy were sitting at the fire pit. They had been chatting idly to kill time but conversation had dwindled to silence. The hologram, Rimmer, had not returned since they all left camp in the morning.
Toynbee glanced toward Malloy occasionally, trying not to be obvious about it. It was hard to believe he and the woman had been driving explosives out of camp only yesterday.
Malloy sat with her chin resting in her hand, watching the flames in the pit dance. She was tilting her head slowly back and forth and Toynbee noticed the remaining fire moved in the same way. She looked as bored as Ink despite their strange surroundings.
He shifted his gaze toward the dense greenery and frowned. He could not understand how someone with so much power treated it like such an ordinary thing. Someone with that kind of power could have ended this war years ago. With that kind of power, somebody could make a difference. Show the world why mutants were important.
He heard Malloy sigh, blowing air out of her lips in an exaggerated raspberry. He looked back toward the fire pit in time to see Barnes approach and Malloy call out to him.
"Hey, Bucky," she said, then tapped her temple with one finger and asked, "Anything?"
Barnes looked uncomfortable and responded, "No... not yet..."
"Yeah, me neither," Malloy said and sighed again.
"What's this?" Haze asked, copying her head tapping motion.
"Oh... just asking if Barnes got any new memories back yet," she replied, "River and Jack said we should remember more about ourselves as we get closer to the source of the rift. Nothing's coming back to me yet through."
"That must be weird, huh?" Haze asked, "Not knowing about yourself."
Malloy shrugged, "Luckily, I don't remember what it was like to know about myself. Right now, I'm used to the weirdness."
Toynbee saw her face fall into a frustrated frown and he shifted his position closer to the pit as she continued.
"Still," the fire starter said, "I would be nice to start remembering something. I mean... I know I'm Rebecca Malloy. I know Rimmer's been watching over me for a while. I know I'm from Earth. River said I'm not an alien or anything. I know I have power over fire, but not how much. It's... it's like it's all right there... just right there... in the back of my mind. But I can't see it."
She grinned at Haze, "It's really a pain in the butt. I mean... I don't even know my birthday. That's weird. I just made up a date whenever I had to fill out paperwork at camp. Come to think about it, I hope I used the same date on all those stupid forms."
"So, you guys are really from the future?" Toynbee asked, finally joining the others at the fire pit.
Malloy met his gaze, smiled and nodded, "Guess so. At least I'm pretty sure about that."
"How far?" he asked.
"No idea," she replied, then pointed at her temple again, "That's lost in the pudding brain too. Though it's gotta be pretty far, right? Since I have a hologram guy hanging around."
"Yeah, right," he said, folding his arms on his knees. He sat thoughtfully for a moment before asking, "Do you think... in the future... it's better? For mutants, I mean?"
Malloy shrugged, "I don't know. I hope so. I hope it's better for everybody."
Toynbee looked down in to the flames, dissatisfied with her answer. He was struggling with what to say next when Malloy spoke again in a hushed tone.
"I think we have company," she whispered, but did not sound alarmed. She jerked to head toward one of the closer stone houses.
The face of a small boy peered at them from around a corner, dark eyes wide. He appeared to be Vietnamese but his hair was formed into white and purple braids. It was hard to say if this coloring was due to mutation or simply dyed.
"I was wondering if anyone would come out," Malloy said softly and gave the boy a quick wave.
He ducked behind the stone house, only to reappear a moment later. Toynbee did not think the boy looked afraid, only curious.
"Do you think he likes dragons?" Malloy asked. Toynbee glanced at her with a frown as the woman held her hand out toward the fire pit.
The dying embers grew brighter and little flames began to spiral upward. Malloy smiled as the fire began to spin, stretching out in length before expanding sideways into a distinct set of wings. Toynbee turned his head between the spectacle and the boy to see if the child was still watching. He could not help but grin as the boy's mouth dropped open in a wide 'O' of surprise.
After a few moments, the flames has fully formed into the shape of a winged serpent, its eyes glowing with a blue light. He watched as Malloy let out a small puff of breath and the blazing creature seemed to take flight briefly before disappearing into the smoky air. The boy gasped and then disappeared again behind the stone.
Toynbee chuckled and turned back toward the mutant woman. Malloy gave him a sheepish grin.
"I think I scared him," she said, looking a bit guilty about her showy display. He again felt a twinge of displeasure at her modesty.
"Scary's okay sometimes," he said.
Malloy stared at him somberly for a moment before she said, "I don't want people to be afraid of me, Toynbee."
"They should be," he said, then noticed her expression turn hard, offended. Toynbee tried to regroup. He had not meant to make her angry. But what he said was true. People... normal people... should be afraid of her. When people were afraid, they left you alone.
"I mean..." he stammered, before speaking quickly, "You're powerful, can start fires, stop bombs, stop people before they hurt you, hurt them if you need to..."
"Hurt people? I don't want to hurt people," she interrupted him, quickly getting to her feet and walking away.
Toynbee opened his mouth, trying to think of how to respond, but no words were coming to mind. He caught Haze's gaze and frowned when he saw the look on the man's face. Haze raised an eyebrow at Toynbee before shaking his head.
"Well... that pissed her off," Haze said, "Good job, Mort."
Toynbee glared at the mutant but said nothing so not to betray how confused he felt. He wanted to kick himself for what he said to Malloy, but he was also angry that she did not understand what he had been trying to explain.
A short time later, Summers, Jack and River exited the stone house with Darwin and the blind woman. The team gathered closer as Jack spoke.
"After some discussion," he said, "We've got the okay to investigate the stone circle again. But just the three of us... me, River and Summers. We'll go with Darwin and Toph and be back before night fall. They've got a couple empty shelters where we can set up camp so get yourselves settled."
Haze and Toynbee gathered supplies from around the fire pit and started walking towards the two stone houses Darwin pointed out.
Haze nudged Toynbee as they walked, "Guess you've got some time to think of an apology then."
Toynbee scowled and felt his face flush before responding, "Shut up..."