- A Clean Up Operation -

- or how Jack and the team cleaned up after the death of the creature in Meat.

It was a pitiable sight. The dead creature had been imprisoned, chained and drugged since its arrival on Earth; what an experience for a sentient being. Jack Harkness leant against its bulk and took a moment to mourn its passing. He knew that the human race would – eventually – learn to welcome and appreciate other life forms but right then he had a hard time believing it would ever happen. He spent a moment considering whether, if he'd acted differently, sooner, the creature would have survived. Perhaps if Rhys had not interfered when the team had first come to this warehouse they may have been able to save it. But speculation was futile, they could just have easily have ended up as prisoners or worse. He had to deal with the here and now and there was a lot to be done. He straightened up and moved away from the creature, turning to view his team.

Gwen Cooper was kneeling beside her fiancé, Rhys, murmuring to him to keep his eyes open, to remain conscious, as he dealt with the shock and pain of being shot for the first time in his life. Jack knew what it was like to be shot, had experienced it often enough, so sympathised with the man. And he respected him for putting himself in danger to protect Gwen. Old fashioned gallantry, perhaps, but admirable nonetheless. Gwen's anxious concern showed in her body posture and she looked at Jack, silently pleading for help for Rhys, for the further medical attention he deserved and needed.

Owen Harper, the doctor, had given some rough first aid and was now standing beside the creature, eyes shut, as he too mourned its passing. No doubt he was also feeling guilty; it had been he who had had to administer the lethal injection of chemicals that had killed it. Beside Owen, Toshiko Sato stood nervously, a hand on his shoulder in commiseration and understanding. Owen had welcomed her concern, had placed his own hand on top of hers in unspoken thanks. She too regretted the loss of a being they should have been able to protect but her more immediate concern was Owen. She loved him and he didn't know it. A tragedy for them both, thought Jack.

Finally, Jack's gaze rested on Ianto Jones, standing off to one side, well apart from the rest. This was always his position; the distance from the rest of the team reflecting his emotional reserve from them all. He was affected by the creature's death but in his stoical way refused to show it. His emotions were always contained. Well, not always, thought Jack, smiling. He showed his feelings with abandon when he was alone with Jack, when they both welcomed the chance to talk and to share, emotionally as well as physically. Ianto felt Jack's gaze on him and returned the smile but it was a fleeting contact and his face soon reverted to its usual impassive mask.

Jack pulled himself back to the present and the task facing them. "Okay, kids, we have work to do." He was pleased to see them all turn their attention to him. "First, Rhys, how are you doing?" He knelt beside him, taking in the small amount of blood and seeing that Rhys' colour was good.

"I'm okay," replied Rhys, voice strong but with a waver in it that showed he was in pain.

"You did a great job and we'll look after you, don't worry. If it's okay with you, we need to do some stuff here before we get you back to base. Can you hang on a bit?"

"Jack!" protested Gwen. "He needs to get to the Hub, he needs proper medical attention!" She looked daggers at her boss, like a mother protecting her young.

Jack looked up at Owen, raising his eyebrows inquiringly, "Owen?"

"He's lost a bit of blood but it's stopped now and I've given him something for the shock. I need to remove the bullet but it's not life threatening right now. I can give him some pain killers." Owen moved over to join the group round the injured man. "But we can't wait more than an hour," he warned. He opened the medical kit he'd placed next to the injured man when he'd looked at him earlier and got out a syringe. "We need to get him somewhere more comfortable." He injected the drug.

"I can wait, love," said Rhys, biting his lip. "Jack's right, this lot's got be sorted."

Gwen ignored his comment. "Jack, Rhys needs medical attention now!" she protested.

Jack looked at her with his full, direct, piercing gaze that he knew cowed her. "Gwen," he said soothingly, "you heard Owen. We need to get a few things moving here and then we'll get Rhys to the Hub. I promise you we will be as quick as we can, half an hour at most. He'll be monitored all the time." He saw her shoulders lose their rigidly and recognised her acceptance. "Why don't you help Owen get him somewhere better than here?"

"There's an office along the corridor," suggested Ianto.

"I know it," said Owen, putting a hand round Rhys' shoulders and, with Gwen's help, getting him to his feet. "We'll get him settled." He and Gwen led Rhys out of the room.

"Tosh, we'll have to dispose of the body," Jack said, looking over at the creature again. "I suppose that means incineration. Take a look around, see if there's anything here we can use, an accelerant of some sort, petrol maybe." She nodded and wandered off, scanning the room for the required items. "Ianto, how many did you end up stunning?"

"Four. Owen got one as well and there's another over there," he said, pointing to the man Jack had stunned earlier, "so there's six all together. Two are in the office, one in the sedatives room, another in the corridor and the last one's in the packing area."

"Four? Well done." He smiled at Ianto, genuinely impressed at his competence. "Okay. We need to get them together in one place, restrain them before they wake up. Then we'll Retcon them, remove all their memories of the creature and what they did to it. Let's put them all in the office where we can keep an eye on them."

"They shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. This was torture." Ianto's voice was controlled and quiet but contained an anger unusual for him.

Jack smiled wryly at his vehemence. "I agree but we can't take this to court. Wiping their memories is the best we can do." He watched the other man and was glad when he accepted the position.

"I know. Shall we get to work?"

"In a minute." He moved closer and put a hand on Ianto's shoulder, "How are you holding up? It was pretty rough there for a while."

The understatement of the year, he thought to himself. He had watched helplessly when a gun had been placed against Ianto's head and the trigger pulled. His heart had stopped and he had imagined Ianto dead but luck had been with the Welshman and the gun had jammed. He couldn't believe the young man's luck had held when the gun had jammed a second time. Jack's heart had only resumed pumping when Dale Harris had run off and Ianto had got to his feet unhurt. Jack had so wanted to run to him, to hold him, to reassure him and instead he had had to send him off to chase down the man who had just tried to murder him. All this had been bad enough for Jack; how much worse must it have been for Ianto.

"I'm all right," replied Ianto, a little too quickly. His eyes darted away from Jack's gaze and showed he was not, not really.

"Well I'm not, come here," he said, pulling him into a fierce hug. "I am so proud of you," he whispered into his ear. Ianto relaxed into the embrace and returned it.

There would be a time to talk about the terror he had felt but later, when the job was done. And he had been terrified, Ianto admitted, had truly thought he was going to die. But stronger than the terror for himself had been his fear for Jack and the others. They had been trapped by the struggling creature which had been released from its bonds by stray shots fired during the struggle. That fear had propelled him from the room and kept his mind calm and focussed on the task at hand, had enabled him to stun the last three men and alert Owen to the changed situation. He liked to think that he had acted as Jack would have done: calm and clinical. He so wanted to be like him, to earn his respect as a Torchwood operative.

He pulled out of the embrace. "We have work to do, Jack," he pointed out but his eyes now met the other man's and he smiled.

"True. Let's move this one out," he nodded towards the man lying nearby. They walked over and Jack pulled him up and slung him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift.

Ianto moved past Jack and bent to retrieve his boss's Webley, thrown there earlier. He looked around a bit more and found Toshiko and Gwen's guns which had also been discarded when demanded by the gang. He passed Toshiko her weapon, put the others in his coat pockets and followed Jack out of the room. On the way, he spied some rope and picked that up too; it would make good bindings. He detoured from the route to the office to retrieve the body of the so-called vet in the sedatives room.

In the office, Jack put down his burden against the wall. He yanked the two unconscious bodies already in the room to lie alongside the first. Rhys was sitting in a cushioned chair while Owen worked on his shoulder, replacing the original bandage after cleaning the wound. Gwen was kneeling beside the chair, holding Rhys' hand.

Rhys looked up, "Jack, I just remembered something," he said, wincing as Owen probed too deeply.

"Sorry, mate," came from Owen. Gwen scowled at him.

"What's that?" asked Jack, standing in front of the group.

"When I drove in, there was a bloke on the gate."

"Was there?" he said thoughtfully. He looked across as Ianto who had entered just before Rhys had spoken and was dumping the body he had dragged in. "Ianto?"

"I'll see to him," he agreed, pulling the stun gun from his pocket. He handed Jack and Gwen their guns and put the rope on a desk. He left the room.

"Gwen, can you help me here?" asked Jack, picking up the rope and bending to tie one of the unconscious men's hands. She patted Rhys' arm and moved to help; together they secured all four. "There's another couple of bodies to collect." He made for the door and was pleased when Gwen accompanied him; her shock at seeing Rhys injured was wearing off and her professionalism kicking in. Together they got the gang members back to the office and secured their hands.

Owen looked across. "I've done all I can for now. He'll be okay for a while. I'll go help Ianto." He walked to the door.

"Hold up a minute," called Jack, walking across to the door and following him out. They stopped in the corridor. "Are you all right?" he asked, watching Owen closely. The doctor usually suppressed his feelings before drowning them in booze. He would rather this incident didn't follow the same pattern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded shortly. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"Because you had to kill that creature," stated Jack, still watching his colleague.

"It was a mercy killing," Owen replied, too loudly. He was surprised himself at how the creature's death had affected him. He had not expected such a large and featureless lump to get to him like this. He'd told himself it was just another alien and that he was putting it out of its misery but he couldn't help remembering how Jack had wanted to rescue it, to send it back to its home. It mattered that he, the doctor, had been unable to save it. "I'm all right, Jack," he protested.

Jack continued to regard him, unconvinced. "You did the right thing," he said quietly. "I know I wanted to save it but once it was loose you had to kill it. If you hadn't, we'd have been crushed; Tosh almost got caught by a whip lashing restraint as it was." He saw Owen's eyes react to this; he did care for her after all. "You saved our lives. Thank you."

Owen looked away, uncomfortable with praise, but happier. His boss did have a knack for knowing what to say to make a guy feel better. "It's okay. I'd better go, see what's keeping Ianto." He walked away. Jack watched him until he disappeared around the corner in the corridor then returned to the office.

Gwen was talking quietly with Rhys so Jack perched on the edge of the desk and considered his next move. The most immediate tasks were complete. The gang were almost all rounded up and secure. Toshiko was checking the place out for accelerants and Rhys' wound had been treated. Next was to get back to the Hub for Retcon and anything else they would need. And, in the absence of the SUV, that meant using the Harwood's van or any other vehicles they could find. He pondered this a moment and decided that the van was the best bet: it would have to be moved off-site anyway and may as well be used for this run. Whoever went in it could bring back the SUV.

He looked over to Rhys. "We're going need to use the van. Do you have the keys?"

"Yeah, in my jacket pocket." He made to get them out but grimaced in pain.

"I'll do it, sweetheart," said Gwen immediately, pushing him back into his chair. She reached across and retrieved the keys.

"Any of you driven a van before? Got an HGV licence?" asked Rhys, concerned about the safety of his vehicle.

Jack smiled at the absurdity of the question. "I've driven tanks, flown 'planes and space ships. Even operated a time machine. That qualify me?" he asked flippantly.

Rhys looked at him, baffled. "What's he talking about?" he asked Gwen.

"Ignore him. Don't fret, I'll make sure it's looked after," she reassured him, throwing Jack an exasperated glance.

"Good," said Rhys still eying Jack suspiciously. "Don't forget it's got a load of that alien meat in the back," he added.

Jack had forgotten; that was going to have to be unloaded and destroyed too. His comms buzzed and he answered it. "Tosh. What have you got?"

"Something that may do the trick but I'm not sure. I'd like your opinion. Can you come take a look?"

"Sure. Where are you?"

"I'll meet you in the main area." She cut the connection.

Jack looked at Gwen. "When Owen and Ianto get back, tell them to start unloading the van. They can leave the stuff on the loading bay for now." He looked down at Rhys and noticed he was shivering with shock. Wordlessly he took off his greatcoat and draped it over him. He then left the room and walked to where Tosh was waiting for him.

"Ah, Jack. I've found some drums of kerosene, they're just through here." She led the way out of a door at the furthest end of the room. "Here," she pointed to three 10 gallon drums stacked against a wall.

"That all we've got?" He knew it would not be enough to completely destroy a creature of the size they were dealing with, not by a long way.

"Yes and there's another problem. If we use kerosene, or any petroleum-based product, we won't be able to control the blaze. My simulations show a 75 per cent probability that we'll take out the entire building and possibly one or two others on this estate."

"We don't want that. It would attract too much attention."

"That's what I thought." She smiled at him, "Do you remember when we raided the UNIT base, not long after you recruited me? Rescued a Hoix and helped ourselves to a few goodies?" Her smile broadened at the recollection. It had been one of her first field missions and she had been terrified. But the operation had gone like clockwork – something she later came to realise was unusual for Torchwood – and they'd not only got the Hoix out of the experimental lab, they'd also had time to 'obtain' a number of other items that had looked useful. She saw from Jack's expression that he remembered the mission. "One of the items we ... err ... liberated was a box of lintox squibs."

He nodded in understanding, "Which would consume the creature without flame. Do we have enough for a job of this size?"

"I think so. I haven't seen them in a while but if I remember correctly there were about 100 which, strategically placed, would be enough." She looked up at him. "I think it's the safest method."

"I agree. Once we get them here the job should be over in a flash," Jack grinned as she grimaced at the pun. "They burn fast." He stood a moment in thought, going over all that had to be done, and couldn't think of anything else he had to do. "Now, let's see how they're doing unloading the van. Sooner that's done, the sooner we can get the squibs." They turned and walked out to the loading bay.

The bay was filling up with the off-loaded meat. There were 10 wire mesh, wheeled trolleys, all full of the slabs of meat. Owen was at the back of the van, manoeuvring more slabs onto another trolley while Ianto was inside the van, moving the contents to a point Owen could reach. Jack walked over to join them. "How much more?" he asked, looking round Owen and into the van.

"One more trolley load after this," puffed Owen, lifting another slab. He straightened, wincing at a twinge in his back. "About five minutes."

"Good. We'll be taking the van back to the Hub. Can you drive one of these?" he asked, raising a eyebrow. "I should warn you, Rhys is pretty protective of it. Anyone would think it was his own!"

"I think I can manage," Owen replied sarcastically. He hefted another slab of meat.

Jack turned to Tosh. "Do you know where the squibs are?"

"Not precisely. Sorry, it's been a while," she admitted. "I expect Ianto does."

Jack turned to the van and waited until Ianto appeared at the door. "Hey, Ianto," he called to the blood splattered man. "We need the lintox squibs we got from UNIT a few years back. Any idea where they are?"

Ianto paused, taking the opportunity to straighten up and ease his aching muscles. "Yes. They're in one of the back rooms, where I keep all the potentially explosive devices."

"Can you explain to Tosh where they are precisely?" Jack doubted he could. The archives were extensive and comprised many interlocking rooms and tunnels below the main Hub. They were Ianto's domain and only he could reliably locate stuff held there.

"I could but it'd be quicker to get them myself."

Tosh interrupted, "It's not just the squibs. I'll need some other stuff too. I know exactly where it is."

"Okay." Jack thought for a moment. "Tosh, would you get Rhys and Gwen and bring them here, please?" She nodded and trotted off. "Owen, you can drive the van and take Rhys, Tosh and Ianto with you. One of them will have to be in the back." He looked across at Ianto who was still working but listening to the conversation. "Sorry, Ianto, that'll have to be you."

"I don't think it'll make any difference," he said, smiling ruefully. "I'm already filthy and smell like a butcher's shop."

Jack laughed. "When you get back to the Hub, Tosh'll tell you what she needs but we'll also need enough Retcon for the gang members here, strength 7. Bring it all back in the SUV, along with Tosh. Owen, you look after Rhys, he deserves your best work."

"Are you implying I don't always do my best?!" retorted Owen, in mock-indignation. "He'll be fine. I want to know how you're going to persuade Gwen to stay here," he grinned and Ianto also chuckled softly.

"Well, perhaps you could give me some help? Back me up, maybe?" They were unconvinced. Jack flung his arms wide in a helpless gesture, "Come on, guys, I need some male solidarity here!" he said.

"Uh huh. It's up to you, boss!" laughed Owen.

Jack grimaced at them; there were times when he thought longingly of his years as an uncontracted agent when the responsibility had been someone else's. He heard voices behind him and turned to see Gwen and Toshiko helping Rhys towards the van. He took a deep breath and marshalled his arguments; persuading Gwen was not going to be easy. It wasn't. It took five minutes of argument, persuasion, pleading, promises and wheedling to get her to agree to his plans. Finally, she gave the van keys to Owen and reached a hand to Rhys, who was settled in the front with Tosh cushioning him in place. He still had Jack's coat round him to keep him warm. Ianto took a final breath of clean air and Jack closed the back doors on him. He banged the side of the van. Owen drove off, remarkably slowly for him, and Jack could have sworn he heard them singing that damned Harwoods jingle from the radio.

Jack and Gwen watched the van disappear round the side of the building and then looked at the 12 trolleys stacked with slabs of meat surrounding them. Jack straightened his shoulders and looked at her, "This lot has got to be moved back and put round the creature. Then it'll be incinerated at the same time it is."

"All right, then, let's get on with it. The quicker this is done, the quicker I get back to Rhys," she said, moving to one of the trolleys. She pushed it in front of her, through the door and into the building.

Jack watched her for a moment and then followed suit. They found that it worked best with Gwen trundling the trolleys into the room and Jack moving the meat from them and stacking it alongside the creature. When all the trolleys were in the room, Gwen joined Jack and manhandled the smaller slabs into place. Both found the work tiring and filthy. Gwen had abandoned her jacket and both had donned aprons they'd found lying around. She had also swapped her boots for a pair of Wellingtons she had discovered. The protective gear stopped the worst of the muck getting onto their clothes but did nothing for the smell. After 45 minutes they stopped and rested, sitting on a convenient crate. Gwen had found some bottles of water and they both drank gratefully.

They sat in silence for a while, then Gwen spoke. "I'm going to ring Owen," she said, pulling out her mobile.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," warned Jack. "He'll be operating now, removing the bullet. He won't be able to answer and that'll just upset you." He put a grubby hand on her arm reassuringly. "Trust him. I'm sure everything's fine. When the others get back, they'll have more news."

Gwen glared at him stubbornly but put her mobile away. "I am so worried about him," she admitted, her face reflecting her concern. "He was so brave, getting in front on me like that. He's never even seen a real gun before, let alone faced one."

"He was brave, hero of the hour. Shows how much he loves you," soothed Jack.

"Mind you," she smiled, "he probably thought it'd be like in the movies when the hero just gets up and carries on. You know, as if there's no pain or shock or anything." Jack laughed knowing exactly what she meant. "I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to him." She was near tears and took deep breaths to steady herself.

Jack put his arm around her and held her for a moment. "It won't. He'll be fine." He wanted to say he'd have a great story to tell but, of course, he wouldn't; Rhys would have to be Retconned.

Gwen shook herself, "I know," she managed finally. She looked at him, "How do you manage, when people you love are in danger? Like Ianto today. He came so close to being killed." She saw his face darken at the memory. "You keep your head; I find that so hard."

Jack thought about her question seriously. "It is hard but over the years I've learnt to detach myself from the danger; just refuse to see it, concentrate on the mission. It's not just because I can't die, this goes way back. It's the only way I can ignore the risks. It's only when the danger's past, when there's a breathing space, that I let myself feel again. Like today," he grinned ruefully. "It works for me, don't know if it would for you."

"I'm not sure I'd want it to," she admitted candidly, "seems a bit ... callous."

Jack shrugged, "Like I said, it works for me." In different circumstances, he would have argued with her but not today. Not now. "I'm going to check on our guests," he said, standing up. "Make sure they're still where they should be."

He walked to the office and found all of the gang members still unconscious. He took the opportunity to take a look round the office and found the bags of cash on the floor where they had fallen. He picked them up and stuffed them with all the papers he could find about the gang's operation. These would go back to the Hub with him. The papers would be destroyed and the cash used for some better purpose; he rather thought an animal charity should benefit from it. He went back to the main area and put the bag by the side of Gwen's jacket and boots.

"Come on, there's two more trolley loads yet," called Gwen.

She was making for the further side of the creature with a slab of meat in her arms, staggering under the weight. They'd arranged the slabs around the creature, making a sort of step against its side, one slab high. Jack had lifted a slab and was on his way to place it when Ianto and Toshiko appeared in the room. They carried equipment boxes and placed these down carefully. Ianto slipped back out to bring in the rest of the equipment.

"You've done well," called Toshiko: the two had worked hard to move all this in the time. "Gwen, I checked before we left the Hub, and Owen says everything's going well. Rhys'll be fine."

"Thanks, Tosh," replied Gwen, grateful for the reassurance. She wiped a hand across her forehead leaving a bloody mark. "We need to finish this as soon as we can. Then I can get back to him."

"Of course, shouldn't take long now." She understood Gwen's anxiety and envied her; she had someone to fret over and take care of while she, Toshiko, had no-one. Well, she amended, she had Owen to take care of it's just that he didn't notice or reciprocate. She wondered what it would be like to have a proper, two-way, relationship but didn't think she'd ever find out. She shook herself; there was work to do. She turned to the equipment boxes and started laying out what she would need.

Ianto returned with the last of the boxes and stepped over to help Jack with the remaining slabs of meat. He was still in his filthy coat and suit in which he had rolled around on the floor. Gwen gratefully took a rest and sipped some water, watching Toshiko assemble the detonation device. In a few minutes, Jack and Ianto were done and they stood looking at the creature.

"I don't know where you thought I would be able to keep something this big," commented Ianto, taking in the size of the creature before him.

"But you're so inventive, I know you'd have found somewhere," said Jack blithely. He never bothered with the minutiae. Never bothered to think how, or even if, his sweeping decisions could be made to work. "I have complete faith in you," he added, a grin plastered across his face.

Ianto was stone-faced, considering the matter. "The Bay. It would have had to have gone in the Bay," he said at last. "Another tourist attraction, I suppose."

"We could have sold tickets to see it," put in Jack, getting carried away. "Do you think we could have arranged for it to give rides too?"

Ianto glanced at him unimpressed. "You'd have had to. How else would we have found the money to feed it?"

"Oh, hadn't thought of that," admitted Jack, enjoying the mock-serious conversation. "How much does plankton cost these days? Been a while since I needed to buy any," he said.

Toshiko looked over in disgust, "If you two have finished upsetting the ecology of the Bay, if not the planet, I need a hand here." The two men shared a conspiratorial grin and abandoned their flights of fancy. They joined Toshiko and Gwen near the equipment boxes.

For this part of the clean up operation, Jack gladly handed responsibility to Toshiko. Her expertise was unrivalled and she was meticulous in her planning and execution. She explained that the squibs – metal tubes about a foot long and three inches in diameter – had to be placed in a precise pattern in order to completely destroy the creature. She had run computer simulations and oversaw Jack and Ianto as they walked round the body (the steps they'd created came in very handy) inserting the squibs into holes they had to cut in the flesh. Gwen followed behind, threading a thin wire through loops on the squibs where they protruded from the creature. The last dozen squibs had to go on the creature's back so Ianto gave Jack a boost so he could walk along it. Jack also connected the wire before jumping down. Twenty minutes after they'd started, all was ready.

"Is there going to be an explosion?" asked Gwen, peeling off her apron. She decided to keep on the Wellingtons rather than ruin her own boots. "I mean, should we get out of here?"

Toshiko was bent over a control panel, muttering to herself, so Jack replied. "No, it's more of an implosion. The squibs will cause the carcase to collapse in on itself. There's no flame or anything like that. Just a ... smouldering I suppose you'd call it. Gradually the flesh will melt away. And the beauty of it is, there'll be no residue, nothing. It'll be as if the creature was never here."

"And nothing for us to clear up," added Ianto, "which makes a change." Gwen grinned at him and they shared a moment of complete agreement. It was amazing how many times the two had been lumbered with clean up duty.

Jack checked with Toshiko. "How are you coming along?"

"Almost there," she made a final, minute, adjustment. "Finished." She looked up, "Shall I activate them?"

"One last thought. Did you get all the data you could about the creature, for the database? We owe it that much at least."

"I did," assured Toshiko, pleased that Jack cared enough to ask. She had used her time searching for the accelerants to also run a complete scan of the body. The results had been remarkably similar to the projection Owen had produced back at the Hub. "I'll let you have a copy when it's all collated."

"Thanks." He paused. "Right. Depress the plunger, Miss Sato," he announced theatrically.

Toshiko laughed and completed the circuit; the squibs gave off a high pitched, but not unpleasant, whine and a muted flash of light as they activated. The flesh around each of them started to change, to lose mass and texture and finally to melt away to nothingness. Gwen watched, spellbound, as the enormous creature's body faded to nothing in front of her. The flesh went first followed by the remarkably few bones, internal organs and all the other tissue. It was like an illusionist's trick. She was fascinated and moved forward for a closer look but Toshiko put a restraining hand on her arm, shaking her head.

"Better not," she advised.

Gwen resumed her position and watched the final moments of the creature's existence. When the massive body had been consumed, all that was left were the squibs and the connecting wire, neither of which could be used again. Toshiko pressed another switch and these remaining pieces of evidence shimmered and dissolved until nothing remained.

"Wow," exclaimed Gwen softly. If she had not seen it for herself, she would not have believed it possible. "Those are useful things to have around."

"Oh yes," agreed Jack, helping Toshiko pack away her equipment, "some of the stuff we find is very useful indeed. We're finished here," he continued, "maybe you and Ianto could administer the Retcon to our guests. Once that's done, we can be out of here."

Gwen took the hint and made for the office with Ianto following behind. They found their 'guests' as Jack called them, starting to come round. They made them take the pills before they were fully aware of what they were doing and the men were soon unconscious again, the effect of the sedative in the pills. Only when they were fully asleep did they release the men's hands. What they would make of waking up in an empty warehouse with the last two months of their memories missing was anyone's guess. Frankly, after what they'd done, Gwen didn't care. It was this part of working for Torchwood that she still found hard to accept; she wanted to see criminals pay for their crimes. However, she reluctantly understood that could not always happen if they were to fight the threat from aliens (or humans) effectively.

Toshiko poked her head around the door. "We're ready to go. Jack's loading the SUV. Are you all done?"

"Yes," replied Gwen, grabbing her boots. "I'll be happy to get out of this place."

"I think we all will," agreed Toshiko. She led the way and the three of them went back to the loading bay and the SUV.

Jack put the last of the equipment boxes and the bags of money in the boot. He finally disposed of the protective gear he'd been wearing and surveyed his ruined clothes. Their dry cleaning bills would go through the roof this month. He looked up as the others arrived. He spotted Gwen was still wearing the orange Wellingtons.

At the side of the car Ianto halted them. "Remember, please, to sit on the plastic covers I've put on the seats and not to touch anything else. That will protect the upholstery from the worst of this." He waved a hand to indicate the muck on his own and their clothes.

"Yes, sir," saluted Jack, standing to attention. Ianto just raised an eyebrow.

They climbed carefully into the SUV making sure to follow Ianto's instructions to the letter. They wound down the windows as the smell of meat was overwhelming. Gwen, sitting sideways in the passenger seat, her legs hanging out, kicked off the Wellington boots which flew a good distance into the scraggly bushes.

"If you've finished," said Jack to Gwen, "I think it's time we were on our way." She sat right way round and slammed the door. Jack looked round the vehicle, "Good work, everybody." He gunned the engine and sped away, back to Cardiff and the Hub.

- The End -

Hope you enjoyed this. Reviews are always appreciated.