Title: Torchwood Meal
Characters: Captain Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, and Suzie Costello.
Rating: PG
Author's note: pre-season 1, written for a French challenge, the prompt being: dispute over the meal. This is a sequel for Torchwood Hunting at the Mall.
Disclaimer: Still not making money out of this. Characters are still belonging to RTD and the BBC.
Beta: imzadimylove
...
Loading the triceratops in the lorry had not been easy, three tons of dead meat, even for five of them, was still heavy. Especially since Jack and Owen were constantly arguing:
"You dropped more than thirty meters, Jack. Let me examine you before you do anything."
"I told you I'm fine, Owen."
"All right, we'll talk about it when you fall dead before our very eyes."
"OK, I'll let you check me as soon as this little baby is stored in a cold place. With today's heat, it's bound to turn," Jack finally conceded.
Yes, because even in Cardiff, summers can get hot.
"Oi! Cold storage?" Ianto yelped, abruptly coming out of shock which the ending of the hunt had left him in.
"Well, yes, we're not going to waste such good meat," Jack replied.
"You should take him back to Hub right away and complete a full check up," Suzie told Owen, used to Jack silly comments.
"Dinosaur meat is one of the most popular delicacies throughout the whole inhabited world. You people have no idea ..." Jack began to argue.
Suzie and Owen rolled their eyes in unison as Tosh and Ianto listened with quiet amusement as they all continued pulling and pushing on the poor dead beast.
"To be honest, if the dinosaurs disappeared it was because of the intensive hunting meant to supply an intergalactic contraband, and nothing else," Jack explained.
At this point, Owen was trying to decide between taking Jack to the nearest hospital, or break into laughter. Suzie was really exasperated, but Tosh was having a lot of fun, as Jack's sweet insanity was undoubtedly part of his charm.
Ianto found himself trying to calculate the additional workload this new fantasy of Jack would cost him. Eventually he consoled himself with the thought that it could have been worse if they had managed to take it alive.
"Cheer up kid. I'm going to make you a stew that you'll never forget," Jack said with a mischievous grin.
They finally managed to bring the carcass into the vault. Jack allowed Owen to run a quick exam on him but only after Owen had agreed to run a health analysis on the Triceratops before leaving.
In the meantime, Ianto and the girls stored the baby triceratops in the cold room using the lifting equipment recovered at Canary Wharf.
...
The next morning, Ianto was the first to arrive. Leaving Jack unattended in the Hub always made him nervous. It was difficult to predict what this devilish man would undertake when bored. He could sometimes be worse than a two-year-old kid. Reaching the kitchenette, Ianto almost had a heart attack.
Jack had trashed the kitchen. There was stuff everywhere. On the old furnace, a huge iron potwas overflowing, and there were enough vegetables waiting to supply a small army.
But Jack was nowhere to be seen.
First thing, Ianto turned the fire off, then as a good boy and perhaps out of curiosity, he stirred the stew. It smelled good, in fact it smelled very good. What about tasting? He hesitated, making a face as he thought about Myfanwy waiting for her own meal alone in her nest, then cautiously he licked the spoon.
"I see you." Jack's voice barked mockingly.
Ianto was surely not going to last very long in this place, he was bound to die young.
...
When the others finally arrived much later, the two men had had time to clean the mess in the kitchen and make some more in Jack's office. The reactions to the aroma released by the cooking were mixed.
"Are you planning on opening a canteen here now?" Owen asked, already cranky in the morning.
"Don't tell me you really did it?" Suzie said bewildered.
"Hum! It smells good though. Can we have a taste?" Tosh asked.
"Sure!" Jack said, displaying a wide grin. "Today is family dinner at Torchwood," he added.
"It's really good," Tosh said, handing the spoon to Suzie.
She sniffed it, and then tasted it right away. "Indeed. It's... hum...really good," she said refilling the spoon for Owen.
The medic took it with a disgusted grimace and tasted it. "Not that bad, I must admit, Harkness. Can I have some more? I didn't get the chance to have a proper breakfast before coming."