Suzie Costello watched Jack Harkness breeze through the Hub, gathering his things to leave. Tosh had just called, distraught, asking him to pick her up from yet another failed date. Suzie knew from past experience that Jack would be with her all night, talking, crying, and eating an entire tub of chocolate ice cream. He was always there to comfort Tosh.
Come to think of it, Suzie remembered, he had been there for her, too. When Suzie's mom had died, the only person who had ever cared about her existence, Jack had gone with her to the funeral and had held her tight when she cried all night long. He'd even made breakfast. And never complained. He had simply been there.
And Owen, Suzie recalled suddenly. Whenever Owen went too far, when his sarcasm and cold words bit too deep, Jack would call him down sternly. But later, when he thought no one was looking, broken Owen allowed Jack to fold him into his arms and hold him together with the sheer power that was Jack Harkness.
Then there was Ianto, the enigmatic teaboy that no one really knew. But Jack knew him. Jack knew because he watched and he listened and he cared. Much as he pretended not to, Suzie knew Jack cared for his people by the way he spoke to them, the way he treated them like family. She could see it in every clandestine embrace he shared with Owen, every kind word to Tosh, every smiley face on the notes he left Suzie, and every lingering touch of his hand on Ianto's.
All the times that Jack had been there for them. When had any of them ever been there for Jack?
Suzie stopped the captain in the doorway of the Hub and asked him. "All the times you do this, all the times you help us when the earth falls out from under us. Of all those times, we've never had to give back to you. But Jack, who catches you when you fall?"
A brief, pained look passed over his features. Then the Harkness bravado was back and he answered her with a smile that she wasn't entirely sure was real. "Simple. I never fall."