[Merry Christmas, whether it's snowing or thirty one degrees. We have another story everyone! So go and read Zaziness new story, "We're Going Down".]

Tell you something that I've found, that the world's a better
place when it's upside down boy.

When you're playing with desire, don't come running to my
place when it burns like fire boy.

Gabriella Cilmi – Sweet About Me

Meat: part 1

'You know I'm getting sick of this,' Owen moaned as they squished into the SUV.

Winter rolled her eyes and called back from the front, 'What are you complaining about now?' she asked.

He held his phone out to her in disgust and then, reconsidering, pulled it back. 'I can't get signal anywhere. I keep phoning up and they just tell me to buy a new phone.'

'Then buy a new phone, problem solved,' she replied.

'I got this one a month ago.' When no one answered he slouched back in his seat. 'Oh forget it. Who needs a phone anyway, if I get caught by a weevil on the way home then I'll just die in agony shall I?'

'Sound like a plan' Jack replied. 'Here we are.'

They looked ahead to see a collection of Police cars and ambulances surrounding an overturned lorry on the roadside. Jack pulled up and they slid out of the car, all with matching frowns. Her sword clinked against the metal buckles on her boots and the strands of hair that had escaped the RAF cap blew across her face. Pip climbed onto her shoulder and held a few back. She shot a smile at him climbed into the back of the lorry.

'Oh!' she exclaimed, her hand shot to her mouth. 'That is rank!'

Ianto shot her a cheeky smile. 'Eau de Abattoir,' he told her before disappearing to talk to the police.

She shook her head in disgust and looked around her. 'Yeah well, it reminds me of a different slaughterhouse only this one dealt with humans.'

Gwen patted her shoulder and continued into the van, wrinkling her nose at the smell.

'No bones,' Jack called out. 'Just dense flesh.' He took his foot off one of the slabs of meat.

'It's not like any flesh I've ever seen,' Owen told them suspiciously.

'What is it?' Gwen asked.

'Well, I for one, missed the memo about the giant cows,' Winter stated. Pip reached out for the meat and she slapped his arm down.

'Let's take a sample back to the hub,' Jack concluded and all but Owen followed him out.

Winter glanced around the road. Nothing of interest, police, a few dogs, ambulance crew, a man hiding behind the lorry, Gwen, a few rubbernecking pedestrians, wait. A man hiding behind the lorry? She snapped her head back to the side where she could have sworn the man was. But he was gone. Or was he even there in the first place? She looked at Pip who was attempting to groom himself on her shoulder, sighed and turned on her heel to head back to the SUV.

TTT

Winter spun Owen's chair around and around as Jack paced outside the med bay. Owen had already shouted at him to bugger off once but it was easy to see that the Captain was excited. This was the first case they'd had since the English student from Cardiff University had vaporized her friend with, what she had thought was, a hair-dryer.

'Alright!' Owen yelled.

Gwen stood at the top of the stairs and Jack flew down to the middle stair in his eagerness. Winter just caught 'its genetic make-up isn't compatible with any known animal.' As she entered.

'Any idea what it is?' Jack asked.

'I'll have to scan it, but whoever's farming this meat knows it's dodgy.' Owen held up a piece of the meat wrapping. 'See this, official vet stamp, 'fit for human consumption,' it's fake.'

Jack made his way out to the main hub but Winter took his place on the middle step.

'Alien meat?' she said, stunned. 'Whatever next?'

Owen shrugged and pulled out his phone, flipping it to Winter, 'Give it to Tosh would you. Get her to fix it.'

'She's not your slave Owen I'm sure she has better things to do.' Owen rolled his eyes.

'Like what?'

She tried to think of some kind of comeback but her mind failed her.

'Exactly now get your smurf sized legs moving and get me a cuppa while you're at it.'

She growled lowly and held out the phone, dropping it into a beaker of acid on the table below. Owen shrieked and grabbed the tongs, pulling his phone out of the liquid. He wiped it down and flicked it open before grinning like a Cheshire cat. 'Look at that, it works.'

Winter frowned and pulled herself off the floor heading back out to take up his seat and sulk. She came in on the conversation just as Tosh hung up.

'Got him!' Ianto yelled from the corner. 'Let's say it takes twenty minutes to load, we're talking a twelve mile radius.'

Owen let out another cry from the med bay and Winter frowned crossing her arms over her chest. The other's joined Owen in the med bay and she slid off the seat to peer through their legs.

'Scan shows it's definitely alien meat.' Owen told them.

Jack let out a deep breath, 'Where the hell would they get it from?' he asked.

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

Gwen turned around and gave Tosh a disgusted look. 'That means people have been eating it for months.'

Winter got up off the floor and weaselled in next to Jack.

'Well the DNA traces are stable,' Owen pointed out.

They looked at the projection he showed them. 'There are some signs of animal sedative but no detectable diseases or residues my guess is, it's good to eat.'

Winter wrinkled her nose and looked down at the hunk of flesh on the table. The thought of eating that made her want to vomit.

'Would you eat it?' Gwen asked, her face a picture.

'Pizza's arrived,' Ianto called out. 'Presumed it would be a late one.'

Owen sighed, 'What'd you get?'

'The usual, meat feast.'

Jack burst out laughing at the slightly green faces of his colleagues and patted Gwen on the back before following Ianto out of the room. Winter lay down on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling, a grin plastered on her face.

'What are you smiling at?' Owen asked as he emerged from his domain.

'Smiling suppresses the gag reflex,' she told him through gritted teeth.

TTT

Dinner was quick and to be honest rather pointless. Winter had raided the kitchen before everyone else and managed to grab the last non meat item, a carton of ice cream. She was still licking her spoon when Jack sent her off to bring the car around. She re-arranged the front seat and pulled out a secret weapon, stolen from the lost and found cupboard, in her battle of endurance with Owen.

Jack slid into the front passenger seat and Gwen into the back and both raised eyebrows as they set off. Jack was first to speak. 'Really Nemo? Pink fluffy dice?' she grinned devilishly.

'Yeah, do you think Owen will like them?'

They were still laughing when they got to the slaughterhouse. Jack called Owen and Ianto who had taken Owen's car as they sat outside the front.

'How many are in there?' he asked.

Winter and Gwen tuned their earpieces in and listened to the reply.

'It's difficult to tell there are no windows.'

With a slight crackle of static, Toshiko joined the conversation. 'I've got blueprints of the warehouse the stock has to be in the central area. Having fun?' She added as a side note.

Winter smirked as Ianto replied.

'Don't know what you're missing.'

'According to this sensor,' Owen told them, 'there's a heat signature across this entire building.'

'That's a lot of meat.' Gwen replied and she leant through the gap in the two front seats. Winter gripped the steering wheel and nodded.

'You two take the sides, Gwen, Nemo and I will take the front. We don't want any casualties. We stun gun whoever's in there and put a stop to whatever their doing,' Jack told them.

Nemo fingered the gun at her side, she would be far more comfortable with her bow but recent events had proved to her that Jack was probably right and she supposed that she could always learn to use her sword at the same time.

They got out of the SUV and headed for a metal structure in front of them. Winter climbed up the side to about five feet and held out a hand to stop Jack moving. She held a finger to her lips and pointed.

'There's someone walking towards the factory,' she whispered. She took another look and then glanced down at the pair worriedly. 'Isn't that your boyfriend?' she asked Gwen, remembering him from the photos on Gwen wall. What the hell was he doing there? Unless.

Gwen and Jack fought at the foot of the structure and Winter climbed forwards, crouching to lessen the risk of being seen. She watched as Rhys was lead inside and then jumped to the ladder on the side of the structure and climbed down.

'It's no good they're inside. If it helps he didn't look very happy about being here.'

Gwen raised her hand to her face and for a second Winter caught the torment in her eyes as she watched the front door. Without a word Gwen turned and stormed off to think.

'What's going on Jack?'

'I don't know,' he replied, 'but it just got way more complicated.' He placed a hand on the small of her back and ushered her back into the shadows where they couldn't be seen and they waited at the side for at least half an hour.

Eventually she heard a clanging sound and peeked around the corner. 'He's coming out. Looks a bit ill,' Winter told Jack who waved Gwen over and they watched as he shook hands with the man and walked away.

'I don't get it,' Gwen whispered.

Winter looked up at her. For her sake, she hoped with all her heart that Rhys was innocent but right now this wasn't looking good. She got back into the car and silently drove them back to the hub. Gwen hopped out before she had even reversed into the garage. Jack sighed and joined her.

When Winter got into the hub Gwen was gone and Jack was in his office. Tosh and Owen had obviously been informed as Toshiko appeared to be doing another background check on Rhys but Owen didn't seem in the least bit concerned about it as he slouched in his chair. 'So what, we're going to wait here and see if she comes back and says, 'oops, looks like my boyfriend was dealing alien meat behind my back. My bad',' Owen complained.

Winter stood in between them and greeted Pip and he fell onto her shoulder from a rope above. 'No, we're going to wait here and give him the benefit of the doubt until we have solid proof,' She told him.

He scoffed, 'What? More solid than him lying to her face about not knowing the location and then turning up and being greeted like one of the gang?'

She frowned, 'I don't know, they looked pretty hostile when he arrived,' she told him.

He grunted, 'You used to look hostile when we arrived, doesn't mean you were going to attack us,' she sighed but then stopped.

'What do you mean? Used to?' I can look hostile if I want to.'

He laughed. 'Yeah right when was the last time you swung down from the rafters to scare us. Face it Winter, you're getting old and soft.'

She growled darkly at him and stormed off, jumping up the nearest pole and swinging up to the top of the Hub. She knew this was all part of his plan to annoy her but it was working. She only came down to steal a beer from Ianto and once she had it she climbed back up to one of the swings to drink it but when the lift started moving revealing Gwen and Rhys clutching her arm she guessed it was time to come down. Pettiness probably made her a bit more risky than normal so she tucked the bottle into her belt and took a running jump from the cave.

She heard a gasp from Rhys as she hurtled towards the ground, catching hold of a pole near them and wrapping her thighs around it tightly as she sped downwards. She hit the floor and instantly unhooked the bottle of beer and took a swig, catching the monkey who flew down to her shoulder from the same pole. Ianto rolled his eyes and she shot him a quick crafty grin.

'Old and soft my arse,' She mumbled to herself.

'What was that?' she heard Rhys ask.

'That was…oh you'll see.'

Winter giggled at the remark and took another swig of beer before turning and leaning on the pole to watch them descend the rest of the way. He was a bit larger than she'd thought close up, not that bad looking. She sniffed and kicked her foot out at Owen's chair sending him rolling, not really her type though.

'They're extinct, Gwen,' Rhys told her as the Pterodactyl past overhead.

'In your timeline yes,' Jack answered as he walked around the side of the lift.

Winter pranced after him and pushed herself up on the railings. Jack and Rhys shook hands and Gwen stepped off the lift.

'This is the rest of the team,' Gwen introduced, 'Owen and Toshiko, Ianto.'

'Pleased to meet you.' Rhys said breathlessly. Winter coughed, placing the, now empty, beer bottle at her feet and jumping the railings to the lower floor.

'And this is Winter.'

Winter skipped forward and shook his hand. 'Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.' She smiled. He seemed a little taken aback, staring at her face. She rolled her eyes and turned to Jack. 'Honestly, you'd think he'd never seen violet eyes before. You do realise I should sue you for damages. All these people missing everything I say to them because they're too busy staring at my face.'

Jack smirked, 'At least it's not your…'

'Finish that sentence and I'll castrate you,' she snapped.

He laughed and turned back to the startled man on the lift. 'Welcome to our headquarters.'

'It's a bit bigger than mine,' Rhys joked.

Gwen let out, what sounded like a terrified giggle and Jack turned to wink at Ianto.

'So Gwen tells me you catch Aliens,' Rhys continued.

'That's right.'

Jack was interrupted by know-it-all Owen in the corner, 'There's a rift through space and time that runs through Cardiff, stuff slips through from other time-lines and planets and it's our job to monitor it.'

Rhys stepped off the lift and turned to Gwen, 'You sure their not some weird cult.'

Winter opened her mouth to protest but Jack smiled and slipped a hand across her mouth.

'You saw that alien in the warehouse, go on,' Gwen reassured him.

At the mention of the warehouse Jack dropped his hand and took a step forward. 'What did you see?'

Rhys clenched his hands in his pockets. 'Erm, it was like this huge shapeless beast, filling up the space, like a mound of flesh.'

'So it's one massive entity as opposed to several organisms?' Tosh asked.

He nodded, shrugging slightly.

'The latest tests revealed high levels of chloride so it probably lived in the water, I reckon it came through the rift, into the sea and it's beached itself.' Owen told Jack.

The Captain thought to himself and then replied, 'Like a giant alien manatee.'

'But how did they get it there,' Ianto asked. 'That warehouse must be fifty meters long.'

'Erm, maybe it was smaller when they found it because they said it was growing.' Rhys interjected.'

Jack gave him a strange look, 'It's not dead?'

'No. It's breathing, it's eye opened.'

Winter took a step forward. 'They're cutting it up while it's still alive!'

He glanced to Gwen in a mildly panicked way. 'That's what it looked like.'

'That's disgusting,' she said, horrified.

'So the protein chains are regenerating despite the mutilation, so not only is it replenishing its own flesh but it's increasing it giving them a brand new supply,' Owen theorised.

'It would last them for years then,' Gwen realised.

Toshiko smiled excitedly. 'If we could understand how it works, we could feed the world,' she told them.

'We could release a single,' Ianto quipped but it was lost on Jack who turned the conversation back to its original topic.

'Before we get ahead of ourselves we're talking about dodgy pies and the fact that they're cutting it up alive. Which we would have been able to put a stop to already if it wasn't for you.'

Rhys frowned angrily and refused to back down from the insult, 'I thought my fiancé was in danger.'

'Well Mr Caveman she wasn't, she can handle herself.'

Gwen was looking rather flustered and as much as Winter was enjoying the little argument it wasn't going to help matters. Oh who was she kidding, 'Mr Caveman', that was brilliant. No, she had to stop them.

'All you did today was mess things up, now we have to think of a way to get back in and thanks to you they'll have tightened security.' Jack turned around angrily and took a few steps.

'Well, if you'd stopped and asked me exactly what I saw in there, instead of showing off round the place.'

Jack glanced at Ianto, 'Do I show off?'

'Just a bit,' he replied.

Rhys wasn't paying attention he just took another step closer. Winter sighed and stepped in between them both, a hand on both their chests. It didn't stop them though, Rhys took another step forward forcing her into Jack's chest. She looked to Ianto for help but he was watching with a slight cheeky smile.

'You'd know that I got out by telling them I wanted the job,' Rhys continued. 'As their new delivery boy, so rather than cock things up, I found you a way to get in but if you can't handle that big boy then you can stuff it.'

'This is quite erotic.' Jack said, looking over at Gwen. Winter glared at him and immediately pushed both of them away from her, moving to stand by Ianto who elbowed her playfully. She blushed and took a swig from his beer on the side. Any more of this and she was going to need it.

I'm quite attached to this chapter because everything's back to normal. This is what Torchwood work like on a regular basis, when their employees aren't hiding family secrets or overdosing in their rooms.

Sonotalady: Minus 16.5 Celsius! Why aren't you curled up in front of a fire with a large duvet? Bloody hell if it was that cold you would, no way, be getting these updates. Thanks for the congratulations. Conditional offer basically means that if I get the marks I've been predicted then I have a place at the university. Which is awesome because it really gives me a goal to work for. Aber was my top choice so I'm really pleased

Rachy Babes: Well after this episode things aren't getting easier that's for sure. Yes the Doc uploaded and I did have a bit of a battle. I think you can guess who won. *grumbles and sulks*

Zaziness: Exactly, WALES! They have no idea what they're unleashing on themselves lol. I must admit, 'like the fish?' is possibly one of the most genius ideas but it's not just mine. I have a friend called Laura who I, due to a series of events on a walk 4 years ago, call Dory. Now whenever people turn and say 'what did you call her?' and I reply 'Dory' they all reply 'Like the fish?' in that way and a few others Winter is actually my friend. She gets the same exasperated look on her face and when she'd really tired just goes. 'Yeah like the fish.' And glares at me. Be prepared for more Doctor :) that's all I'm saying. Yeah, sorry about the formatting thing, Neville was having an off day. As for Donna's last name. I can't believe I didn't notice that. I think the computer might have changed it automatically and I just never noticed. Thanks for pointing it out. When I get around to changing the chapter I'll change that too. (but yes it is supposed to be 9 am when she goes to sleep. It was dark when she was on the roof so with the time scale, it would only make sense to be morning when she finally goes to bed. No you're not mean, mean would be leaving it for someone nasty to come along and rant about, Thank you. Oh and Peregrine is a Capuchin. I chose it mainly because there was one at the zoo once who took a shine to me so I now have a toy one hanging from my bed