Alex stared down into the crevasse that now existed just outside of the circle of stones. It was hard to tell how deep it was in the dimming light. He wondered how far the men who had been shooting at them had fallen before they hit bottom.
Haze, Ink, Barnes and Darwin were on their way back to the village with an unconscious Professor Song and a supposedly not-dead Jack Harkness. Alex had lingered behind to inspect the break in the earth and try to sort out in his head what exactly Fury had gotten his team into. He dearly wished at least one of their attackers had been left alive to answer questions. But Toph had said there were no other intruders lurking nearby. She could tell by sensing the world through her connection to the ground around them. And it would seem Toph had quicker defenses than anyone could have suspected of someone who was blind. The ground had broken beneath the feet of the men in the jungle, solid ground swallowing them whole before they could flee.
It should have been terrifying. But Alex felt himself inwardly relieved that this power belonged to Toph rather than another mutant with the ability to manipulate earthen elements. He figured Magneto would have freed himself of his subterranean prison long ago if he could lift raw soil instead of only metals. Xavier had told Alex where Magneto was detained after the JFK assassination trial, before the Professor had shut his mind off to the world.
"You should not remain here alone," Toph's voice said quietly from behind him, "It's not safe for you in the dark."
Alex turned and looked at the young woman standing in the clearing. It was too dark to see her white eyes but she was silhouetted by the beams of moonlight penetrating the jungle canape.
"Not safe for you either," he said, walking toward her. After a few steps, he could make out the smug grin on her face.
"I don't need the sun to see where I am going," she said, "Or if enemies are nearby."
"Does that mean we're not your enemies?" he asked cautiously.
Toph shifted her stance as she answered, "No... but you are Darwin's friend. I trust him and he trusts you..."
"So, let's just say we've got a truce," Alex said, then added, "For now."
Toph nodded once before turning to walk out of the stone circle. Alex followed behind, knowing she could lead him back to the village better than he could on his own.
They walked in silence for a while before Toph spoke again.
"Your Professor said she can fix the mountain," she said, then asked, "Can she?"
Alex sighed heavily before replying, "I have no idea. She can't do what you can with stone. But, from what she's told me, there's some kind of break in the earth they are trying to find and close. Jack said Malloy's power might do the trick."
"What power?" Toph asked, sounding wary, "What can she do to fix the mountain?"
"Power over fire. But I really don't have the answers to your questions, Toph," Alex said.
"She stands to the south," Toph said.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked.
"Fire always stands to the south," Toph replied, as if this explained everything.
Alex was getting tired of mysteries and riddles, especially with bodily exhaustion catching up with him. He was not sure if anything would ever be answered now that Professor Song was injured. But he had a feeling it would not be long before his squad was heading toward Toph's mountain.
"I don't know..." Ink said, arms folded as he stared down at Jack's body, "He looks pretty dead to me."
Toynbee glanced up at his teammate with a scowl though, secretly, he was thinking the same thing.
Jack's body had been laid out on the ground behind Darwin's stone house, lit by several torches Malloy had set up. Their host and Barnes were inside, seeing to River Song's wounds. They had left Malloy and the three mutant soldiers to keep vigil over the deceased Captain. Toynbee was not sure what they were waiting for. An hour had passed since the group returned to the village and Jack's body had not shown any signs of life.
"Yeah," Malloy said in agreement with Ink, "He really does. I haven't seen him come back before so I'm not sure how it works."
"Maybe we should say a few words?" Haze offered, then shrugged, "Ya know, like a prayer or something?"
"What? And wish for the bullet in his head to disappear?" Ink shot back, "You'd be command's A-Number-One mutie if you could do that."
"Oy!" Toynbee hissed, "Show a bit of respect, why don't ya?"
"I didn't really respect him before," Ink balked, "No reason to do it now that he's - WHOA!"
Ink yelped and jumped back. Jack's body had jerked suddenly, taking a ragged deep breath. The man groaned as Toynbee watched with a mix of revulsion and awe as Jack's head wound closed. Malloy sighed with relief before putting a hand on the now living man's shoulder.
"Jack," she said with a grin, "Welcome back."
Harkness blinked his eyes against the fire light and lifted his head. He frowned, looking a bit disappointed.
"Oh," he said, "We're still here. Damn. I was having a great dream about this planet called Nacre. All beautiful beaches...warm water... two suns! And the men there have the biggest..."
Jack seemed to fully return to his senses and glanced around, "Um... never mind... Where's River?"
"Inside with Darwin and Bucky," Malloy said, "Bullet grazed her arm and she hit her head but otherwise she seems okay. Bucky said she came to a little while ago."
Jack sat up as Malloy talked and handed him a canteen. The Captain took a long drink and poured some of the water over his face to wash away the remaining blood.
"Where's Summers?" he asked with concern.
"He's okay. He hung back with Toph to make sure there wasn't anybody else hiding around," Malloy replied, "The guys said she make a crack in the ground and whoever was shooting fell in."
Jack nodded and looked back toward the jungle, still frowning. He glanced back toward the trio of mutant soldiers.
"Who were they?" he asked, "What did they look like?"
"You'd be better off asking Summers," Haze said, "They were already... gone... by the time me, Ink and Barnes got there."
"Well..." Jack said, half in a grunt as Malloy helped him to his feet, "We can't really assume anything at this point. I'm going to see if River's feeling up for a talk."
"If she's up for a talk?" Ink said shaking his head, "This from the guy who was dead like a minute ago?"
Jack gave the tattooed young man a flirtatious grin, "I'm always up for anything, Private."
The now living Captain and Malloy headed into the stone house to speak with Professor Song, leaving the three mutant soldiers to wait for Summers.
Toynbee smirked as Ink scowled uncomfortably at Jack's quip. Harkness was as odd as the rest of his crew yet that did not bother the young man called "Toad". In fact, he liked everyone on the research team better the more he got to know them. Something about their strangeness felt natural, normal, and he could not help but to like being a part of that.
"Ya know what I think?" Ink said after the two outsiders were out of earshot, "I think it's the same guys who were planting the bombs."
"You don't know that," Toynbee shot back.
"Did I say I knew?" Ink asked, lighting a cigarette on one of the torches, "No. I didn't. It's just what I think."
"Any messages?" Haze asked, tapping his temple to show what he meant.
Ink shook his head, exhaling smoke, "No. It's just a hunch."
Toynbee glanced at Haze and saw resignation on the taller mutant's face.
"I got the same hunch," Haze added, scratching his spiny scalp, "Don't know why. I ain't psychic but... that kinda feels right to me."
"Why would they shoot Professor Song and Captain Harkness then?" Toynbee asked, feeling like he was missing something the other two had figured out.
Haze shook his head, "Maybe cause they were first in line of sight? Who knows. But you know there haven't been Charlies in this area in a couple months. And, here we are, one day out of camp in some hidden village and someone just happens to find us and try to take out the people we're assigned to. Doesn't seem like coincidence."
The three fell quiet as they each considered their situation. Toynbee grudgingly admitted to himself that he agreed with Ink and Haze. If someone had been bold enough to try to kill the mutant squad in camp, why wouldn't they continue to attack them in the field?
The squad was still sitting silently when Toynbee heard someone approaching from the dark. A quick whistle let them know the footsteps belonged to a friendly but the trio still got to their feet. Summers and the mutant Toph appeared from out of the darkness into the torch light. The young woman did not pause in stride and did not acknowledge them as she walked further into the stone village.
Summers joined the squad and asked for an update on Jack and River. Haze gave him a run down of what had happened and Summers shook his head.
"Well, I'm glad Harkness is alive. Though I still have a hard time believing it," he said and sat on a wooden bench, looking weary.
"So what the hell happened out there?" Haze asked, "Did you get a look at the gunmen? Were they Charlies or... someone else?"
Summers rubbed the back of his neck as he replied, "No idea. From what I saw, they were dressed in black. They could've been wearing uniforms but they also could've been in long evening gowns for all I know. Didn't even have a chance to get a blast off before Toph... did her thing..."
Toynbee saw Summers clench his hands at mention of his powers. The head of their squad was rarely rattled but the strain of the past few hours was obviously catching up with him. Enemy combatants aside, Summers had rediscovered a friend he had though dead, discovered a secret village of mutants (including one who could crack open the ground) and then learned a member of the research team was immortal. Toynbee figured "normal" soldiers would have gone totally nuts by now.
"Let's get the watch started for tonight," Summer said, "I'm gonna be useless tomorrow if I don't get some rest. You two still good for first shift?"
Haze nodded and Ink said, "Oh sure why not..."
"Good," Summers said, not bothering to reprimand Ink's attitude, "Wake me and Toynbee up in four hours to relieve you. Unless there's a problem..."
"Don't worry," Ink said with a snarky grin, "There will be."
Jack Harkness rubbed the bridge of his nose as River explained what the team needed to do next. The pain from the mended bullet wound was still lingering and River's persistent drive toward their goal was not helping with his headache.
River Song sat on the edge of Darwin's bed, looking tireless despite her bandaged head and arm. Malloy and Barnes stood nearby, neither looking ready to challenge the determined Professor. Darwin had allowed them use of his sleeping chamber for private discussion.
"The source is somewhere on that mountain," River said, "We know that now. And we need to get there as soon as possible."
"River," Jack said, raising his eyes to his stubborn companion, "It's not going to be an easy hike. The mountain is a long way off. And now we seem to have someone following and trying to kill us."
"It's a war zone, Jack," River said, "It's not unexpected. We'll just need to practice more caution."
Jack raised a hand pleadingly, "Caution is one thing. But wouldn't it make more sense to get back to the ship and go on our own rather than dragging out this research team charade?"
"We still can't contact the ship, Jack," River replied, then turning to Malloy, "What about Rimmer? Has he made another appearance?"
Malloy shifted uncomfortably, "No. And I actually tried to contact him directly after Summers told us about you guys getting shot. Not a word back though. Even if the computer is down or something, I should still be able to contact him."
River nodded, as if Malloy was supporting her argument, "Then whatever was jamming communications this morning would seem to be getting worse. Energies from the rift itself may be interfering with the signal. We can't know for sure. But that's all the more reason we need to get to that mountain and destroy the rift. As quickly as possible."
"We can't ignore what happened at the stone circle, though," Barnes said, rubbing his chin, "Maybe it was a fluke and some natives got upset about us being there... but, from what Darwin's told us, I don't believe that."
"Which is why we need to figure out who they were before heading out into the jungle again," Jack said, then added when he saw River's combative expression, "The next time we're attacked, it might not be just me who gets a hole in the head."
"I'm not saying there won't be risks," River argued, "This whole venture is nothing but risk. But we have to try. We need to move fast before something far worse than men with guns forces itself into this world!"
Jack was about to respond when the door to the small room opened. Darwin's face was apologetic as he looked over the tense scene.
"Sorry," he said, "Just thought I'd ask if anyone wanted some tea."
River gave their host a winning smile, "Yes, that would be lovely, Mr. Darwin."
By the expression on the mutant's face, Jack realized it was not just the offer of tea that brought him into the room.
"You know, I couldn't help but overhearing," Darwin said, "I don't know who you people are but Alex seems determined to help you so... I think I may have something to help you get to the mountain."
Jack looked surprised, "What do you mean?"
Darwin hesitated only a moment before replying, "The river that lead you from the military base. It goes right to the mountain's base. And I have a boat..."