Forgetting

By SSQ

"How long has it been, for you?" A voice asks, and it has been so long since the Face of Boe had heard English that he does a double take. He knows that accent, from some time long ago. "Well? How long A thousand years? Ten? Come on Jack, how long has it been since I died?"

Jack. He knows that name, how did he know that name? Was it the name of one of his lovers, long dead? Possibly. He cranes his head, shifts a bit, noticing for once that he has a body again. He was no longer just a face.

"You've forgotten, haven't you?" The man bites his lip. The Face of Boe is met with the image of a young human man. "You've forgotten me."

"I've lived a thousand lifetimes," Snapped the Face. "A million years. No one can expect me to remember everyone I've met at the sound of their voice." Despite his irritating words, something about the man intrigues him. He knows this man, knows the particular shade of dazzling blue his eyes are. He seems so unforgettable-well, unforgettable to anyone but him.

"You promised." The words are bitter, like the taste of the beverage which scent clings to him. How did he know-oh, well, best not to pry into memories. Too difficult, too depressing. Who was this man, though.

"Last I remember I was opening the motorways under New New York," He informed. "I don't remember much. Not anymore. Am I…Dead?" He asks, and the thought seems foreign. He had died before, but never had he stayed dead…To think about it, he always remembered death as cold and dark. He wasn't cold now, nor was it dark.

"Yep. Pushing up daisies, ten feet under," The man grins for a moment before it fades. "What do you remember, Jack?"

Jack. He was Jack… "I try not to remember much," He replied tersely. "Only immediate memories. It's too painful, otherwise...I know I was with Novice Hame, on New Earth. I stopped trying to remember once the other planet burned…" He wrung his hands, amazed that he even had hands. Jack. He was Jack… A thousand memories flew past his eyes.

'Captain Jack Harkness, and who are you?'

Oh. Oh. That's why he repressed all his memories as Jack Harkness. "Ianto?" He gasped, voice hoarse. He loved so much…So desperately. "Ianto Jones?"

Jones, Ianto Jones-Love the coat-Laughing-friends-lovers; Torchwood. Toshiko who was like a daughter to him, Owen who was too pigheaded to see she loved him, and Ianto. Beautiful, wonderful Ianto Jones. God, how could he forget him?

"Jack?" Ianto's voice is tight, as if not daring to let himself hope.

"I missed your coffee," He jokes with a grin. "And the suit."

Ianto's lips form into a small grin. "And I the coat, sir."

A chuckle erupts from his throat. "Oh Ianto." He mumbles, drawing the younger man into an embrace.

"Jack." It's barely a breath, but it's still there and godit'sbeensolong. They kiss, not at all chaste as a brush of the lips; it's a 'hello' kiss, and an 'I've missed you' kiss, and when they break apart it's almost as though they were never separated. "Come on," Ianto smiles. "There are a lot of people who spent a very long time waiting for you."

So, hand in hand they walk along the beach, and for once in a very long time, Captain Jack Harkness doesn't feel alone.