Title: The Yellow Box
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Past Ianto/Jack, , implied past Jack/Others
Spoilers/Warnings: Spoilers for CoE, implied canon-compliant character death
Notes: hauldyourwhist on LJ has this gorgeous Jack fanmix called "A Good Man is Hard to Find" which I totally blame for this drabble.
The innocuous yellow box is full of hundreds of years of memories, and Jack stares down at it for a long time before sighing and opening it. He takes the pictures out and studies them one by one, repeating the memorized litany of names, attaching those names to faces that had already begun to fade from his mind, searching for bittersweet memories in the shadows of his existence. At first, he had done this every Sunday in a desperate attempt to keep a leash on time. Then he had spent the majority of one Sunday dead and had just not quite gotten around to it during the following month. Now he only does it when reminded of the memories kept concealed in the box.
He spreads the pictures out across the table (delaying the inevitable), challenging himself to get them in the right order. Then he reaches into his pocket and takes out two photographs, placing them side by side on the table to complete the mosaic. Ianto Jones smirks up at Jack from the first picture, surprised to be faced by the camera but amused at something he said that Jack has long since forgotten. Alice frowns at him from the second photo, Steven clinging to her leg.
Jack repeats their basic information to himself, attaching their names to his list, and then he gathers up all the photographs and put them back into the box in a neat pile. He puts the box in its drawer, grabs his coat, and walks out of the room.