Title: Memory

Pairings/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Captain Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, A Polaroid Camera ;D

Warnings: Fluff I hope.

Summary: Set during the year that never was. Jack is gone and Ianto find some photos. Inspired by the song "Mercury Summer" by Fightstar. (Ianto's POV)

Author Notes: Set for the 100 word prompts I received from Sushi Chi. Seriously, you should thank her for Silence, Chicken Pox, the Alphabet challenge and this challenge 'cause she's the one who sends me the prompts and stuff

Disclaimer: I don't own the TV show or the characters.

A week. Seven days. Had it really been that long since Jack had left? I had immersed myself in work. There was so much more to do without Jack there to do his fair share. That office was stacked with papers. I sat on Jack's chair, figuring out where each piece was supposed to go.

It was painful, all the memories that office held were getting to me but I knew that no one else was going to do it. No one else ever did. There were all sorts of files in there, some weeks old.

I dropped a pile of papers, groaning. There was no way I was going to get through this all and it was no wonder that Jack never had. He was the king of procrastination. If he could find a reason to leave something until later, he would. And that reason usually involved me.

I picked up the papers from the ground, noting that the first few needed to go into the second pile. I went through the papers, putting them in the right piles for the archives.

That was when I saw them. Polaroids. I didn't know whether to cry or to smile. It was kind of automatic though, the smile that came to me. Jack had this Polaroid camera he had only showed me a little while ago. He said he wanted to take photos to remember everything about now. I chuckled at the first picture and the memory behind it. It was a photo of me, in bed, trying my best to hide my face from view.

I woke with a clear head, something that seemed to happen whenever I was around Jack. The bed was so warm and I wasn't even aware of what time it was. There was that smell, that lingering smell of Jack softly playing on the air in the room. I smiled, breathing it in from the pillow.

"Ianto?"

"Hmm?" I think the most disappointing thing was the fact that that American accent wasn't coming from next to me.

"You awake?"

"No." I mumbled, burying my head back in the pillow.

Jack chuckled and I smiled again. That sound alone could do that to me. I wish I knew how it did.

"Ianto…" He called again.

"What?" I groaned.

"How do you take your eggs?"

"What?" My eyes widened at those words.

Cooking. Jack. Jack cooking in my kitchen. That sentence is enough to making even the best of us cringe. I quickly sat up and saw the grin on his face.

"What?" I repeated, utterly confused.

That was when he pulled out that camera. I moved as fast as I could to cover my face. The camera made that sound that told me the photo had been taken and I felt my heart stop beating for a second.

"Jack!"

Jack laughed, "Relax Ianto."

"Get rid of the camera!"

"You have nothing to worry about."

I hid under the blankets, "I'm not talking to you until it's gone."

"Okay! Okay, it's gone."

"You promise?"

"I promise." Jack chuckled.

I reluctantly uncovered my face to see Jack smiling, hands held out in surrender but with a Polaroid in one of them.

"Please burn that."

"Don't be so dramatic." The bed dipped as Jack sat next to me, "You're very photogenic, you know?"

"You should know never to take photos of someone in the mornings."

"Oh? Why not?" Jack smiled brightly and I had to fight my own. I was still angry with him.

"Because I'm dishevelled and not even dressed."

"If I had my way, you'd never wear clothes again." Jack smirked.

I dropped my eyes to the bed, trying to hide the blush that was creeping to my face. I still tried not to smile. I was still angry.

"Besides Ianto," Jack sighed happily, "I like to think people are their most honest in the mornings."

I couldn't stop the smile from creeping onto my face as he said those words. Damn him.

"Look." Jack tilted my head to meet his gaze.

Those eyes, those beautiful ocean eyes always got to me. The way he looked at me was so different to everyone else. Even when he wasn't smiling, I could see a smile in those eyes when they were looking at mine. What was he expecting to see in me?

He held up the photo, "Perfect. Although, more face and less arm would've been preferred." He smirked.

"Urgh, I hate you."

"I know you do." Jack laughed and quickly stole a kiss from me, "I was kidding about the eggs by the way."

"Yeah I got that."

"Unless you want me to go make you some?"

"No! No Jack…just stay out of my kitchen."

I placed the picture carefully on Jack's desk. I laughed at the second picture. Jack always was one to pull out that camera at the worst possible moments. It was me again but this time it was night. My face was being illuminated by a fire, the shadows playing on my face and you could see Jack's coat wrapped around my shoulders. I had a faintest smile on my face.

"What's wrong?" Jack sighed as he threw another piece of wood into the fire.

"Nothing." I murmured.

Of course there was something wrong. Was he blind to the situation we were in?

I felt his hand on my shoulder, "Tell me."

"We're in a forest waiting for who knows what to come out and attack us. Meanwhile I'm freezing and this fire is doing very little."

Jack shrugged off his coat and I sighed, "Jack, what are you doing?"

He carefully put it over my shoulders and I groaned, "I don't want your coat."

"I want you to wear it."

"Why?"

"Because it'll keep you warm." Jack smiled sincerely.

I stared into the fire, frowning. I didn't want him to be mister sweet, kind, caring. I was angry with him and I knew I shouldn't have been. When I thought about it properly, I wasn't even angry with him, I was angry with the situation we were stuck in.

We were never going to be allowed to have a quiet night. Just the two of us, a movie and a blanket, that's all I wanted. I'd never gotten it though. I tried to imagine sitting Jack down to watch a whole movie. It would never happen with those wondering hands of his. I smiled faintly at the thought of him trying to distract me from a movie.

I heard the click of Jack's camera and I turned to him quickly, "Jack?"

"Couldn't resist." He smiled innocently, shaking the new Polaroid picture.

"Why do you do that!?"

"I told you, I like to have things to remember you by."

"So remember me by coffee or by ties."

Jack shook his head, moving closer to me, "That's not the same."

"What do you mean?" I looked into his eyes, curiosity peaked.

"Coffee and ties will remind me of you. I'll always think about how good your coffee is and how good you look in a suit but it doesn't compare to that." Jack held up the picture, "It can't compare to that smile, to that glint in your eyes."

I couldn't contain the smirk that came to me at that, "You should warn me beforehand though."

"That's not the same either. Not as sincere."

"How could I be anything but sincere to you?"

Jack smiled, "Touché."

I moved closer as he drew me in for a soft kiss, the taste of coffee on his breath, his smell surrounding me.

"What would you do if I left?" He asked as we parted.

"What?" I furrowed my brow in confusion.

"If I was to leave, and wasn't given the chance to explain, what would you do?"

"Are you planning on going somewhere?"

"No, not really. I just want that reassurance. I want to know what you would do if the situation were to come up." Jack's eyes were looking deep into mine.

"If you're not planning on leaving, there's no point in thinking about it."

"But there is." Jack kissed me again, "You know what Torchwood is like. Anything could come up."

I sighed, "I guess…I'd just try to carry on." I paused in thought, "Would you come back?"

"You know I would. I could never just leave and never come back."

"Well then I wouldn't mind." I smiled, "Because I know that you'd come back. I'd just wait and hope you'd come back soon."

"Promise me you'd do that Ianto."

"What is the big deal Jack!?"

"I just want to know that you'd be okay if anything like that would happen."

"I promise, okay! Now you have first watch because I'm tired."

I hadn't really thought about that until I'd seen that photo. Jack had made me promise. He cared. He never wanted it to happen this way. Most importantly to me, he was coming back. He said he would never do that so I knew I had nothing to worry about. It was all going to be alright.

I wiped away a tear the stray tears I'd shed thinking of the memories and placed the photo next to the first. There was one more left and I smiled when I saw it. It was me again but this time it was in the meeting room. My eyebrow was raised, smirking and you could see Jack's arm pulling me closer by my tie.

"Ianto?"

"Sir?"

"The others have left. Just you and me. Stop working."

"Just cleaning up the coffee mugs." I replied, gesturing to the mugs on the table.

"Leave them." Jack smiled lasciviously.

I smirked, "What's with you?"

"Haven't seen you much today, missed you." Jack tugged me closer with my tie.

My eyebrow rose impulsively but I moved closer. I heard the camera click and my eyes widened. Jack held up the camera, grinning and pulled the Polaroid from it, shaking it.

"How do you keep doing that!?"

"You're oblivious to the camera Ianto. It's like you don't want to know it's there." Jack chuckled.

"I swear, next time I'm breaking it."

"Please don't." Jack showed me the picture, "That's a keeper."

"I hate you so much."

"No you don't."

"Well then you hate me."

"You know that's not true." Jack smirked, pulling me closer.

"Then what's with all the horrible pictures you take to black mail me with?"

"You know I don't do that."

"I know that but it's the last thing I can think of to make me being angry with you acceptable."

Jack laughed, "So don't be angry."

"Stop with the photos."

"Never."

"Than never." I smirked, walking away.

"Ianto!?" He called after me.

"What?"

"You're not really angry, are you?"

"No."

And in the end that's all Jack and I have, memories. It's what brought him here, what made him leave and I knew deep down it would be what would bring him back.

All I could do was hope he'd come back soon, and revel in the memories.

A/N: Inspired by my absolute favourite song. Go listen to it! And I'm probably going to do a chapter about when Jack comes back. Please Review ;D

Cheers,
Gabz
xx