Title: Sniffing Out The Memory
Author: caz251
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating: Pg
Character/Pairing: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood.
Summary: Ianto can't remember anything, but one distinctive scent seems to penetrate his mind.
AN: Written for schmoop_bingo Prompt: perfume/cologne
He had to find that scent, it had been haunting him for weeks now. Ever since he had woken up in that hospital bed he had been able to smell that cologne. It was familiar to him, and at the moment it was the only thing that was. When he had described the scent to his nurse she informed him that it was the smell of the man who had brought him into the hospital.
He had to find that man, he obviously knew who he was, he had given the nurses his name and told him to look after him. Now Ianto had to find him to find out who he was and what he was to him, as there was no way that his sent would stir his mind like this in a way that his own name didn't if they were only mere acquaintances. This man was important and Ianto knew it. He had got a description of the man from the nurse who had first dealt with him and the search for him had begun the first night he got out of the hospital. He wandered the streets of Cardiff, recognising places and the path he was taking even though his mind couldn't remember it.
He had been staying with his sister as soon as he got out of hospital and she had promised to take him to his flat and to help him find the man but he had felt that this was a better way to find him. Wandering the streets might not seem like the sensible option, especially not for a man who had lost his memory, but Ianto knew that this was the only way that he would find the man.
For some reason his feet led him towards a park, somewhere that he knew he had been before but he didn't recognise it, nor did he recognise why he would have come here. Not long after he got there did he smell it, that wonderful scent, the man was near. He followed the scent on the wind, only to come towards an SUV as it drove out of the park. He memorised the license plate, hoping that he could find the car once more and maybe the man. He got back to Rhiannon's the disappointed look on her face making him feel bad for having gone out without telling her before he realised that he wasn't a teenager and she wasn't his mother.
Rhiannon took him to his flat the next day, but left him to go in alone on his request, the flat smelt of the man, he obviously stayed there with him, so where was he. He supposed the man didn't want to be around him while he had no memories, but he was sure that the man was the key to his memories coming back, otherwise his scent wouldn't affect him as much as it did, he was sure of it. He was in the kitchen when a key turned in the lock and the door opened. He waited until the man had made himself at home on the sofa before he appeared.
"So who are you then? And where did you buy that cologne?"
The man chuckled, but it did not reach his eyes. "Jack." He said quietly, before adding, "And I never wear any."
"You smell like that naturally?" Ianto questioned as he inhaled the man's scent. He didn't know why but he then spoke at the same time as the man, Jack. "51st century pheromones."
The man looked at him startled, before giving a laugh. "You remembered."
Ianto just stared at him as the man pulled him towards him into his embrace, taking the opportunity he practically inhaled the pheromones rolling off the man. He looked up into the man's eyes and suddenly everything seemed to snap into place. He had never really thought of his nose as his best sense, but it had overcome the other senses and defeated his memory loss so he supposed it wasn't too bad, then again not all the things he had ever smelt were as good as Jack.