Chapter fourteen: Grey-blue paint and spinach pizza

Jackie came up from her and Jack's bedroom, wiping the antique grey blue paint on her already paint covered pants. In the few weeks that had gone by, Jack and Ianto had knocked out a wall to expand the bedroom. To their delight, the wall they knocked out revealed a circular, secret corridor that was wide enough to allow a full sized bed and a closet for Jackie's clothes. She tried, but she couldn't part with her ballroom dresses just yet.

Part of her was still a dancer and she held onto them. She had no problem selling most of her furniture. She kept a few things like her dresser, nightstand, and to Jack's delight, her full-length mirror. She'd been able to make a small fortune by selling off the remaining furniture she had in her apartment. She also found she had a few collector's items, due to her appreciation for art. She let the items go at ridiculous prices, but she was satisfied.

Jackie inhaled as the recently installed lift glided smoothly to the top to Jack's office. Jack had been concerned about her falling, so he'd removed the ladder and put in a small floor lift. She exited the office as Ianto came round the corner. She hadn't heard the other's come back yet. Tosh was with her, but helping her find an appropriate bed set with red, white and turquoise that would complement the grey blue paint.

Ianto's brows rose as he studied her. "You're a sight."

"And I'm hungry too." Her stomach let out a rumble to prove that fact. "I guess I better go wash up, now that you guys are back. When is the pizza due?"

"About….six minutes."

"Good. Do you mind making some coffee? I'm knackered and my hands are covered with paint."

Ianto grinned. "No problem there." His phone went off, 'teenage dream' by Katy Perry. He scrambled for his phone. "Sorry." The expression on his face, tattled that it was Meryl.

Jackie pointed to Jack's office. "Go ahead and use it."

Ianto nodded his thanks as Jackie headed for the nearest sink. Ianto and Meryl had gotten very close indeed. With a month, they'd agreed to start seeing each other and Meryl had agreed to let Ianto meet her son, Ian. Jack had joked that if they were ever to get married they'd have to name their next child 'To'.

Meryl was a very beautiful girl, she had deep, auburn hair and rich, exotic features. She wasn't a proud girl though; she was humble, sweet and kind. Ianto said her green eyes made even the purest emeralds look black. Her husband, Alex, had died; he'd committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Meryl had worked multiple jobs to support her two-year-old son, finally getting a job as a model and her career took off. Her warmth and charm, made her very popular amongst the people she worked with and the public.

Jackie turned to head towards Tosh's desk. "Why does it have to be Rhys' firm?" Gwen questioned, causing Jackie's head to go up. "It's a bit too close to home."

"Do you want to stand down?" Jack questioned.

"No!" Gwen said. "I want to find out what's going on."

Jack took his cup of coffee off the tray Ianto was holding, to notice her approaching him. "Well," he said with a bit of a swagger in his step and voice. "hello there sexy hair."

Her eyes widened in horror. "Dear God, it's blue isn't it? I got paint in it?"

Jack laughed and wrapped his right arm around her waist, his hand gripping her hip firmly. "You look very windblown, but not blue."

She exhaled in relief. "Thank goodness. What's going on?" Harwood's. Jackie's head shot up at the sound of Rhys's Harwood theme for his firm. Gwen blushed as everyone smirked. You won't be sorry with a Harwood's lorry.

"Catchy." Ianto said in his dry manner.

Jackie laughed. "Rhys wrote the last bit." Her laugh died. "Oh no, please tell me Rhys isn't involved in something."

"He is." Jack stated.

"Do you think the haulage firm are in on it, too?" Tosh questioned Gwen.

"Rhys? No." Gwen shook her head instantly. "He doesn't know what goes in the vans. He just hires them out."

"The driver must have seen it loaded." Ianto pointed out before taking a sip of coffee.

"That doesn't implicate Rhys." Gwen said firmly. "He's the most honest man I know."

"I'm backing Gwen up. Whatever you think Rhys is involved in, that's impossible. He's way too sweet and thoughtful to get caught up in anything shady." Jack snorted and she elbowed him. "Shut up flyboy."

"Have you got his direct line?" Tosh asked Gwen. Jack studied Gwen closely as she set down her cup, grabbed her cell phone from her leather jacket and showed the number to Tosh. "Thank you." Tosh dialed the number and was immediately rewarded with a live person.

Harwood's Haulage. Everyone turned to where Tosh had put the call on speaker for everyone to listen. How may I help you?

"This is the police." Tosh said. "We'd like to speak to Rhys Williams."

After a moment of silence, Rhys spoke on the phone. Hello?

"Rhys Williams?" Tosh questioned.

Yeah, speaking.

"Are you aware that there's been an accident with one of your vans?"

Yes, Rhys sounded slightly testy, but she didn't sense anything unusual about him. I'm aware of the accident.

"Good. Can you tell us who leased the van?

It's a firm is called Harries and Harries. They came to us about two months back. It's a weekly contract.

Jackie arched her brow in approval. Rhys was automatically giving them information that most people wouldn't ordinarily think to inform the police of. He was willing to help by giving whatever information he could.

"Are they licensed?"

Yeah, of course they're licensed. Rhys sounded insulted that anyone would suggest that he'd dare to work with an unlicensed firm.

"Could you give me their address?"

There were several long moments of silence before Rhys spoke again. Hello? Sorry. All I've got is a service station on the A470, fifteen miles from Cardiff.

"Do you have a contact number?" Tosh questioned.

After a few more moments of silence, Rhys growled out tightly. No, there's no contact number, either.

"Oi," Jackie whispered to Jack as he intercepted a note from Ianto. "he's going to give the secretary a tongue lashing when he's off the phone. I know that voice."

Jack smirks and opens the note from Ianto as Tosh continues questioning Rhys. "Can you tell me where your driver took the meat?"

Yes, he was taking it to Caerwen Abattoir. Jack stepped forward and handed Tosh the note before coming back to where Jackie wasn't against the rail. It's a processing plant. Just a general meat suppliers.

"What time did the driver leave base?"

Signed out at ten to one. Can I ask what this is about?

"I can't release that information, sir. Thanks for your cooperation."

Yeah, but I'm the manager

And with that, Tosh hangs up on him. Jackie shakes her head in disapproval. "You didn't have to hang up on him Tosh."

Tosh smiled. "Well, that's what the police do."

"Got him." Ianto crowed loudly from down below at his station. "And there he is coming back forty minutes later. Let's say it takes twenty minutes to load. We are talking a ten mile radius."

Jackie nodded her head in agreement. "So, whatever it is we're looking for is close. As a matter of fact, what is going on here?"

"Giant cow sighting." Jack said.

She shook her head skeptically. "Nice try Jack."

He chuckled as Owen called loudly from the autopsy room. "Jack?

"Yeah?" he shouted back, right in her ear. "Oh, sorry about that."

Everyone headed back down to the autopsy room for a report. "The scan shows it's definitely alien meat."

Jack shoves his hands in his pockets and exhales deeply. "Where the hell would they get it from?"

"If it's going into the processing plant," Tosh reminded everyone. "that means it's going into pies, burgers, pasties, everything."

Jackie's stomach churned violently. "Oh God."

"That means people have been eating it for months." Gwen surmised.

"Well, the DNA traces are stable. There are some signs of animal sedative, but no diseases or residues. My guess is it's good to eat."

Jackie stared at Owen in amazement as Gwen questioned. "Would you eat it?"

"This is why, I eat fish and chicken only." Jackie said. "No red meat for me. Ever again!"

Jack chuckled as Ianto came in. "Pizza's arrived. I presumed it would be a late one. And Jackie, I did order a salad bowl as you requested."

"Thank you Ianto."

"What did you get me?" Owen asked.

"Your usual." Ianto said as he turned away. "Meat Feast."

All the comments Owen made about the meat a moment ago went straight to his stomach as he groaned out. "Lovely."

Jackie chuckled. "You can share my chicken spinach Alfredo I had Ianto order for me."

"Thank you, but," Owen said. "I don't like spinach."

Everyone shuffled towards the scent of spicy and greasy pizza. Everyone began opening their boxes, looking for their pizza order. "Where's my double pepperoni?" Jack asked with a frown after opening all the pizza boxes. "It's not here."

Ianto shifted uncomfortably. "Er, uhm, Jackie said that you wanted to try the marguerite pizza."

Jack's brows rose as he turned towards her. "The spinach and tomato pizza?"

"Don't worry; I made sure they left your double pepperoni on it."

"Jackie." He said with a slight scowl on his face.

"You haven't been eating enough vegetables lately." She stated as she took a bite out of her pizza. "It's good for you."

Everyone behind her let out a few chuckles as Jack leaned over her. "Just a minute, Mrs. Harkness."

"Jack, did you or did you not make me the Torchwood nutritionist?" Jack exhaled deeply and glowered slightly at her as he got shot with his own words. "That's what I thought." She kissed his cheek. "Now everyone, let's all enjoy our pizza before it gets cold."

As Jackie suspected, Jack had no problem eating his pizza. The only person having trouble was Owen, who was picking every, single piece of meat off his pizza. After filling her in on everything going on and several delicious pieces of pizza later, Ianto had narrowed it down to three potential areas.

"Only one warehouse is unoccupied. It's just outside Merthyr."

"Makes sense." Owen said." Who knows what goes on there?

"We've got to shut the operation down." Jack said around a very large mouthful of pizza. Jackie had contemplated suggesting that Jack chew with his mouth closed, but Jack had at least a thousand years to learn that and she wasn't going to attempt to break a thousand year old habit. "neutralize whoever's doing this and identify the alien meat. Tosh, you can coordinate."

"I have to slip home and check on Rhys first." Gwen says as she tucks her phone into her pocket.

"Good idea." Jack said around a full mouth of pizza. "Find out how much he knows."

"That's not what I meant." Gwen said quietly. Everyone watched Gwen walk away in awkward silence.

Jackie bit her lip for a moment, wanting to remain silent. After a few moments Jack spoke. "Spit it out Jackie, I can just feel it building up in your mind."

"Right. How long is Gwen expected to keep this a secret from Rhys? It would really help their relationship if he knew too."

"It's not allowed." Jack said.

"Why not?" she asked. "After a few more months, Ianto is possibly going to find himself in the same boat with Meryl."

"Uh," Ianto stammered as his ears went red. "let's not jump ahead to future."

"And how many times have you had to lie to her about something because it's connected with Torchwood."

"Thirty-five." He said without blinking.

Jack and Owen's brow arched in amusement. "Thrilling that you've been counting Ianto." Owen said dryly. "And you're not even a month into a relationship."

"And Jack, you and I are open about everything in our relationship."

"That's different." He ran his thumb over her chin, wiping some pizza sauce off it. "You and I are married and we both work for Torchwood. Ianto and Gwen aren't married, nor do their partners work for Torchwood."

"Gwen's engaged. Once they're married, you don't honestly expect her to keep her life a secret from her husband?"

"Yes!"

She shrugged out of Jack's touch. "Well, I don't think that's fair!"

"Life isn't fair Jackie, we all knew what we signed up for, even Gwen and she came back for seconds." Jackie opened her mouth, but he cut her off. "We'll discuss this later; now, we've got to go investigate that warehouse Ianto was referring to. Then, we'll discuss Torchwood regulations on relationships."

About thirty minutes later,

Jackie exhales patiently as she waits for Gwen to arrive so they can head to the slaughterhouse to investigate. "Tired?"

"Impatient." She states. "But I finished painting the walls down in our place." Jack wrapped his arms around her waist. "Tosh helped me find a striped comforter that ties everything in nicely. I just have to find some furniture stain and a few paintings for the walls and we're done."

Jack arched his brow. "Aren't you a happy little Suzy homemaker?"

She rolled her eyes, stretched up, and kissed him on the mouth. It was intended to be a quick peck, but as always with Jack, it turned into something more. A moan slipped from her lips as he pulled her against him.

"I thought," Gwen said as she approached them. "that you were against public displays of affection."

Jackie pushed Jack away and flushed. "Anything with Rhys?"

"Like I thought," Gwen says as she turned to Jack. "he has no idea what's going on."

Jack took a hold of Jackie's arm as he turned towards Gwen. "Would you care to accompany me to the slaughterhouse?" Jackie chuckled at Jack's 'Downton Abbey' accent as Gwen she takes his arm, causing him to smirk. "Here's a historic moment. The Cooper sisters on my arms."

Jackie rolled her eyes at Jack as Gwen question. "Have you ever eaten alien meat?"

"Yeah." Jack said with a chipper note in his voice.

"What was it like?" Gwen asked in curiosity.

Jack shot Jackie a pointed look. "She seemed to enjoy it."

"Oh God!" Jackie's face went red and she slapped him as he laughed at her. "Jack!"

"You're rough." Gwen muttered as they went towards the SUV.

"That's one way of putting it." Jackie stated as Jack opened the car door for her. "Honeymoon or not, you're sleeping on the couch tonight."

Yeah." Jack swatted her firmly on the backside as she climbed in, causing her to yelp. "That's one spot we haven't tried out yet."

"Jack!" Gwen and Jackie shouted in unison.

"Is there any place in the base," Gwen questioned. "that I should be worried about sitting down on?"

"Well," Jack said flippantly. "there's my desk, the cabinets in my office, the shower, and of course, almost everything in our room, including a few spots on the wall-

"Oh, please!" Jackie said as her body began to burn with embarrassment. "Please Jack, stop talking!"

"Aren't you two the enthusiastic couple!?" Gwen stared at her. "You used to be such a prude!"

"I was not a prude! I had high moral standards and wanted to wait until marriage before having sex." Her eyes bulged as she hissed. "Did I really just say that?"

"She caught on rather quickly." Jack said with a grin. "Believe me Gwen, that pent up passion, really comes out at night."

"I can't believe that we're actually discussing this!" Jackie half-shrieked as Jack started the car. "It's not decent!"

"It's only family here. You should see her Gwen." Jack said. "Her whole body literally starts to glow, various shades of colors. Gold, orange, pink, or magenta."

"Enough, Jack!" She said as she buried her face in her hands.

Jack chuckled and rubbed her knee. "Alright, I'm sorry baby."

"Don't call me baby." She groaned tightly as she leaned back in her chair. "I am not talking to you for the rest of the day."

"Fine." Jack was silent for a moment before asking. "So, do you want to try out the couch or kitchen counter tonight?"

sandysan2013: Yeah, that is a classic Gwen moment. I think it's hysterical how she's so determined to say or do something, she forgets courteous things, like knocking!