ericadawn16 | The Coat

It's a drabble I wrote for

a_silver_story when we found out Jack would have A coat, but not THE coat in season four.

Jack hurried to Cardiff as soon as he could and nodded to the bank manager, holding out his key. Then, he was led to his vault which was only occupied by two objects. Jack knew the bank manager didn't understand why someone would bother to put a an old RAF coat in storage but Jack couldn't bear for anything to happen to it. He'd tried getting another coat for everyday wear. However, it wasn't the same: not without Ianto smoothing down the errant fabric, carefully buttoning him up or whispering things in his ear before leaving. He returned it to the surplus store for a different one, close but not the same. After all, he'd told Gwen that he was starting a new life and that's how it had to be.

Torchwood kept bringing him back here, to this planet. Jack reached into the pocket and took out a stopwatch. He caressed it, turning it over in his hands. It was almost like he could feel him again.

"You should have been there. This time no one died," Jack whispered. He slipped the stopwatch back into the pocket and sniffed the coat, but it had been a replacement itself, not even enough time to have Ianto's smell on it. He tried to remember the exact mix of body wash and coffee along with whatever cleaner he'd been using last. Jack ran one hand down the heavy fabric and folded it with a careful hand, sticking it back into the box.