A Matter of Coats

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own anything and therefore am not making any money off of this.

Summary: Jack and Ianto have a discussion about a coat. Ianto/Jack. Immediately follows "All You Need Is Love." Part of the "Immortal Janto" series.

Here, for your entertainment, is some Janto fluffy goodness.

Jack grinned as he watched Ianto through cracked eyelids. He was pretending to be asleep so he could enjoy the quiet routine of his lover as he straightened up the room. They had been quite careless about where they had thrown their clothes. But some things never changed and Ianto being neat was one of them.

Speaking of which, Ianto probably knew he was awake and watching him.

That would account for the numerous times Jack was privy to seeing Ianto's ass. Not that Jack was complaining. Ianto's ass was great.

Ianto picked up his black trench coat – the same black trench coat that Jack now was absolutely certain had once belonged to him. The Welsh immortal carefully straightened out, shaking out the wrinkles that had formed while it lay on the floor after Jack had oh so tenderly peeled it off and tossed it aside. Jack frowned a tiny bit and decided now was a good time as any to ask Ianto about the article of clothing.

"You know, I think that's mine," he said softly, breaking the silence.

A chuckle met his ears. "It was, once upon a time."

"Really? Then, where'd you get it?" Jack's tone was playful as he opened his eyes and crawled to the end of the bed, closer to where Ianto stood, coat in hand.

"From the rubble of the Hub, about four Earth years ago." There was raw emotion there.

Heart tugging for the man in front of him, Jack caught Ianto's arm and pulled it towards him, kissing the inside of his wrist. Ianto shivered at the touch. Jack turned his face into Ianto's arm, breathing softly.

"Tell me."

Ianto heaved a ragged sigh. Jack saw how he pressed the coat to his chest, like it was a security blanket.

"I had to go back, to see it again, to be sure, you know?" Jack did. "I went in alone. I couldn't bear to let the Doctor see how bad the Hub really was. And there it was, this trench coat. I bet you forgot you had it." Jack hadn't, but he wasn't going to say that.

He kissed a little higher on Ianto's arm. "What happened then?"

"My heart literally stopped. Logically, I knew you were alive but a part of me cried out at the sight of it. I picked it up and, well, it still smelled like you. I took it with me. I've been wearing it ever since then, just because it was yours and it smelled like you. Had it on every time I," here Ianto laughed hollowly and Jack squeezed his arm ever so lightly, "every time I went to lay flowers on Owen's and Tosh's graves. It made it seem like you were there, in spirit, with me, that they weren't totally forgotten. And I wore it when I put flowers on my own grave. In case you never got a chance to and you would have wanted to, if I was actually. . ."

Jack looked up at Ianto and understood.

Underneath all of Ianto's bravado and his casual acceptance of his immortality, he still wasn't totally healed from the emotional strain of his first death yet.

That made Jack angry.

Angry that he couldn't be there when Ianto came back to life. Angry at himself that he hadn't thought to see if the Vortex had transferred over to Ianto. Angry at the Doctor because the Doctor had kept Ianto from him for all those years. Oh yes, Jack knew that, while it had only been five years for him, Ianto had had to suffer through fifteen years of waiting to be reunited with him. And he wished that he could just kiss away Ianto's pain.

Ianto wouldn't look at him, through all of this. That hurt Jack the most

"Hey." Carefully, he pulled Ianto to face him, sliding a hand onto his hip, caressing Ianto's skin with his thumb. "Hey," he said again, finally getting Ianto to meet his eyes. There were unshed tears there. "Ianto, it's alright. You don't have to hurt anymore. You have me now and there is no way I'm going to let you beat yourself up for those years we spent apart. You know why, Yan?"

"Why?"

Jack smiled brilliantly. "Because, if what you said is true, eighty million years from now, I want to be on my who-know-what number honeymoon with you after our God-only-knows-which wedding."

That earned him a smile, sweet and true.

"So do I."

"Good." Jack reached over and gently touched the coat. It was cool to his touch. He brought a sleeve to his nose and sniffed. True, there were still faint traces of him, but Jack smelled something very different in the fabric. He smiled as he leaned his cheek against the sleeve and looked up at Ianto. "You know what I smell, when I smell this coat?"

"What?" Ianto's eyes were wide and innocent.

With all of the love that he had in him, Jack told Ianto:

"You."

Short, sweet, and to the point. So what do you think? Does it meet your standards? If so, let me know!