Title: Dream fic
By: cupiecake
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG
Note: So last night (after I finally got some sleep - long, complicated, semi-retarded story) I had a really INTERESTING dream.
Summary: AU. Ianto's not really sure how he ended up here.

***


Ianto's not really sure how he ended up here, in this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. He isn't sure of a lot of things, but at least he remembers stopping for some breakfast after driving all night, fresh from the empty apartment of someone he doesn't remember being.

He remembers very little - waking up in the hospital, his left arm in a cast, his face bruised, head pounding. Dr. Harper announcing somewhat haughtily that he was going to live to the gathering of unfamiliar faces.

Dr. Sato had leaned over him, asked if he was alright. Said, "Ianto," and he remembered that he was Ianto, Ianto Jones. 27 years old. He remembered his degree in computer engineering, his friends nominating him Most Likely to End Up in a Dead End Job with 2.5 Children and a Wife he Hardly Knows. He could remember every book he'd read since the age of six.

He had no idea who these people were.

He had no memory of the past five years at all.

"Ianto?" Dr. Sato had still been asking. "Ianto, what happened?"

"I'm sorry," he'd replied. "Who are you?"

***

He'd learned, then, that he'd been hit by a lorry. The other man, the driver, fine save a nasty knock to the head, apologized profusely, promised to take care of the bills, anything he needed, babbling until PC Cooper - the other woman - led him from the room.

Dr. Harper told him he'd been unconscious for 48 hours; that other than his broken arm and a concussion he was fine. ("You're so lucky," Dr. Sato had exclaimed. "We're so glad you're alright!") Days of questioning, of tests. Dr. Sato hovering and fussing like a hen over chicks; Dr. Harper making snide remarks. He saw PC Cooper come by a couple of times, conferring in secret with the two doctors. He'd presumed she was hoping he'd remember something about the accident.

After a week, Ianto had been sick of it all. The doctors were reluctant to let him go, even Dr. Harper, but his head was better and his memory wasn't coming back. There wasn't anything else they could have done.

His tiny, pristine flat didn't spark any recognition. He'd found boxes of a woman's things in the closet; keepsakes, photos, letters from "your Lisa," and wondered why he'd kept them. Obviously she wasn't in his life anymore. Two toothbrushes in the bathroom indicated he'd been in a relationship with someone, a male someone judging by the laundry.

No one ever showed up to claim their place in Ianto's life. No friends, no lovers. His own family - his parents had died in a car crash when he was 16, he remembered. An only child.

With nothing tying him down, Ianto packed up the remnants of his former self, save a few things he liked (the coffee maker, especially. Something that beautiful deserved to be taken care of.), and rented a storage space. He'd terminated his lease, resigned from his place of employment, and promised Dr. Sato he'd call if he remembered anything.

The day his cast came off, Ianto Jones left Cardiff.

Somehow he'd ended up here, serving pancakes and omelettes to tourists and truckers. He had an even smaller flat than the one he'd left behind, and a cat. It wasn't much, but he thought he was happy. At least content, and Ianto Jones found contentment quite satisfying.

***