Chapter Eleven

"If you don't have chocolate cake in that box there's going to be bloodshed," Lisa warned smilingly as she opened the door for Jack.

Jack obediently lifted the top of the bakery box, displaying the gooey chocolate cake that Lisa had requested – no, demanded – the last time he'd been over.

"Mmm…" Lisa reached out a finger to swipe some of the thick chocolate icing from the top of the cake, but Jack slapped the box closed. "Hey!"

"If I have to be good, you have to be good," Jack said, stepping forward to allow her to shut the front door behind him. "And yes, we have to be good," he continued before she could protest. "If we're not, Ianto will get that look."

Lisa nodded. Oh yes, she knew the 'look'.

The man in question chose that moment to poke his head through the door at the other side of the living room – the one leading towards the bedrooms and bathroom – with a towel still in hand as he finished rubbing his hair dry. "Hi, Jack, I thought I heard the door."

He shook his head to the side as if trying to get some water out of his ear. "I'll be back in just a minute. I still don't quite feel like I've managed to get all that gloop off me."

It had been a long day for the Torchwood team, with all of them, including Ianto, spending the majority of it tracking a very odd energy reading around the outskirts of Cardiff. When they'd finally managed to get a fix on it, it had turned out to be an almost translucent gelatinous alien that didn't take very kindly to being disturbed.

Jack had, apparently, revelled in the opportunity to play with the big gun, but, while it proved very effective in destroying the alien, it also covered them all in its extremely gooey insides.

Ianto had come home in his spare clothes, grumbling through the story as he tried to assess if the suit he'd been wearing was saveable or not. He had, he told her, at least convinced Jack to leave his coat in the SUV before taking the big gun out. Lisa knew that he was almost despairing as to how many more creative stories he could come up with for the dry cleaners.

"So, what's on the menu tonight, then?" Jack asked, putting the cake box down gently beside him as he unlaced his boots.

"Food-wise or movie-wise?" Lisa asked, picking the box up and carting it through to the kitchen.

He grinned. "Both."

"Well, food-wise we are having a fantastic chicken casserole I prepared this morning," Lisa smiled back, "so you'll like it or else. Movie-wise… we'll see."

"We can take a vote on it," Ianto said as he came back into the room, the towel gone but his hair still looking casually rumpled.

Lisa watched as a tiny spark lit up in Jack's eyes at Ianto's presence. Their first date, nearly a week ago now, had – just as she had predicted – been a resounding success.

She'd been asleep by the time Ianto got home, but had been awake before he left for work the following morning. The lingering mix of excitement and contentment had still been evident on his face. Lisa didn't need to ask for details to guess how it had gone – although that hadn't stopped her asking anyway.

If that hadn't been enough proof, they'd gone out again last night. Ianto's nerves, so nearly crippling before the first date, had been subsumed by his curiosity as to what Jack had planned, as he'd refused to give him any details beyond 'dress casually'.

Lisa had yet to coax any of the oh-so-secretive details out of Ianto, but given the looks on their faces now, she felt confident in assuming that things were progressing just nicely.

Jack's grin grew wider. "Well, at least that would prevent yet another viewing of Ocean's 13." He smirked at Lisa. "Two votes to one on that one."

Moments later, there was a beeping from the kitchen, signalling that Lisa's cookery-timing had been perfect, and the casserole was ready.