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English
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
Completed:
2009-08-05
Words:
1,099
Chapters:
2/2
Kudos:
10
Hits:
1,711

The Greatcoat

Summary:

Brief Summary: An immortal time traveler puts away his identity as Capt. Jack Harkness.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Notes:

Author's websites: None
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto (implied)
Category: General
Rating: FRG
Status: Complete?
Spoilers: Torchwood: COE
Series/Sequel: None
Warnings: SAD SAD SAD
Notes/acknowledgments: For the Torchwood - after "Children" challenge.
Disclaimers: Torchwood is owned by Russell T. Davies and other people who aren't me.
Archive to Makebelieve: (Y)
Forwarding to other lists: (Y)

Chapter Text



The Greatcoat
by Lokemele
duckysdoll@hawaiiantel.net

It was your average spaceport, as spaceports went, neither the grandest nor the tiniest he'd been in.  The man once known as Capt. Jack Harkness walked along the main promenade wearing a shipsuit he'd earned while working off his passage doing scutwork (mostly things the rest of the crew wouldn't touch) and carrying a plastic bag containing the rest of his current possessions.  He scanned the various shops as he walked along, searching for a particular service.  About halfway along the promenade he found what he'd sought.

As he entered the shop, the little bell above the door tinkled, alerting the clerk he had a customer.  The clerk bustled out from the rear of the shop as his customer withdrew a long, blue coat with shoulder epaulets out of his bag and, after pressing the right sleeve to his face a final time, fastening up the buttons, and folding it up neatly so the front was uppermost, handed it to the waiting clerk with the instructions, "Vacuum seal it."

"This is a very nice coat, sir," the clerk said.  "Do you want it cleaned first?"

"No," the customer replied, "just seal it as it is."

"It looks almost new."

"I only wore it for a few days, six months apart.  I didn't need it on the ship."  He'd stopped wearing it after he'd left England, and had only put it on to say goodbye to Gwen and Rhys.  A faint trace of Ianto's cologne still clung to the sleeve where Jack had cradled his head as he died.  He wanted to preserve that, as well as the coat itself.  It had been the last tangible thing Ianto had given him, and he hadn't even asked how many Army/Navy surplus stores he'd had to search before he'd located it, or how much it had cost.  "Just seal it up already," he hissed through clenched teeth, willing the grief back down where he'd been hiding it.

The clerk was quick to comply, sensing somehow there was a story behind the coat and knowing, somehow, it was better left alone.

"That's our best packaging," the clerk said as he handed over the now-sealed coat and received payment in exchange.  "Proof against even the vacuum of space, and warrantied for not less than 100 years."

The customer smiled, thanked the clerk, took his coat and his change and departed.

His next stop was a purveyor of potent potables, where he picked up several bottles of something strong and dark and never seen on Earth.

After that he rented a room for the next few days, locked himself in and proceeded to get falling down drunk.  Just before he passed out he crawled into his bed with the sealed coat, held it close to himself and whispered to it, "God, Ianto, I miss you so much!" as his tears fell onto its impervious surface.

 

end

This was where I originally intended to end it, but there's a persistent little bunny saying there's more to the story, and I really should write it.

Do I write, or ignore?