Title: Nomenclature
By: Aeshna
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack Harkness
Rating: PG
Notes: Drabble written for the tw100 "Anything Goes" challenge. I work in taxonomy (no, it doesn't involve stuffing things) – keeping track of names can be a challenge.... Spoilers for TW 1.12, Captain Jack Harkness.

He learned early that names were both essential and meaningless, an abstract shorthand for identity that meant nothing in isolation. Names were tools to be given, to be taken, to be embraced or abandoned; hooks on which to hang the woven threads of a life. He moved onwards, shedding each temporary existence like a skin until –

He never meant to keep it, but the borrowed cloth fit well and he wanted to be found. Years passed, and when he was finally caught in his lie... well, he might not have borne the name first, but he had worn it longest.