A/N: One of this story's central characters is the Doctor, and as such it will have a lot of Doctor Who references. For those who don't follow that show, I will try to explain any references in a note at the bottom of each chapter, but of course if you still have any questions, feel free to ask in a review and I'll clear it up for you. Also, the story's title is taken from a brilliant poem by Dylan Thomas.
Summary: Following the events of Children of Earth, Jack takes to the stars in order to escape his pain, and finds his future hollow. Finally, a chance encounter with the Doctor reminds Jack that miracles are possible, and sets him on a path to reunite with his lost love.
Pairings: Cannon pairings. Jack/Ianto, mentions of Doctor/Rose.
And Death Shall Have No Dominion
Prologue
He couldn't say how long he wandered. When you're basically immortal, time starts to lose meaning, and when you're drifting between planets and galaxies, days and weeks don't so much blend together as cease existing altogether.
He tried for a while to drown his memories out with alcohol, with half a dozen simultaneous pleasures, even with honest hard work. But every time he began to let go of his pain, to really enjoy himself, to actually care about someone else…
"Don't forget me."
Those three words would hit him, harder than any simple "I love you" could ever do. Those three words, a desperate request, so seemingly simple, but so impossible to fulfill.
"In a thousand years' time you won't even remember me."
Jack couldn't believe that. What kind of a person would that make him, if he did? If he actually thought himself capable of forgetting Ianto, or Toshiko, or Owen, or even Suzie? Or Steven, whose death clawed at him like a sickness every time he so much as saw a child's face. He couldn't believe those words… but deep in his heart he knew that he did.
Already, there were things that were starting to slip away. Little things, like the sound of Ianto's moan when Jack kissed behind his ear. What the name of his favorite television program had been. The exact shade of his shirt on the night of their first official "dinner and a movie" date. In his dreams he remembered everything, with details so painfully clear that he had awoken in the arms of one or more lovers with tears in his eyes and Ianto's name on his lips. But then the day had come, and the dreams began to fade. How long would it be before he forgot Ianto's voice? His sardonic smirk? His touch?
He hated to think about those things, but he couldn't live with himself if he didn't.
It could have been decades that he wandered, or it could have been mere days, but eventually his path led him back to the Doctor. It seemed that his path always did.
TBC
A/N: Sorry for the shortness of the prologue but, then again, it is just a prologue. Future chapters will be much longer. Please review!
