A/N: My apologies for the serious gap between the last update and now. I put this to one side in order to focus on and finish "What Never Should Be", and I just couldn't get back into it. I'm trying to rectify that now. So even though this is only a short chapter, please rest assured that the next chapter is half written already, and I plan on posting it in the next week or two.

When Jack awoke, he immediately sensed the nervous tension that permeated the Hub. To begin with, though, no one said anything to him directly, with the exception of Ianto who quietly suggested he retreat to his office and that he'd bring him coffee and something to eat. Jack accepted willingly, and his mouth almost salivated at the thought of coffee.

By that time, it was approaching late hours, and Kathy and Tish had both left for home and hotel respectively. His team remained, as did the Doctor. It was blatantly obvious that they were all waiting for him to wake up, although he couldn't work out why. He wasn't inclined to dwell on it, either. He had other things to think on, and he relished the privacy of his office to do it in.

Five of the men had now been caught. One was dead at the hands of his own mates, and four were locked up in Torchwood Three's cells. That left one to find. Jack had to confess, he didn't clearly recall what the sixth man looked like. After a while, their faces had all more or less blurred into one, and all he really remembered was a stocky bloke of greater than average height. No how hard he tried, he simply couldn't picture a face, and that seriously bothered him.

Maybe, he conceded reluctantly, he should just hand the baton to Kathy and let her do her job. Except, he couldn't and he knew it. It wasn't only knowing that the police couldn't be allowed to prosecute, either. The bottom line was that he needed to see it through for his own sake, and his own peace of mind.

Jack knew he wouldn't rest easy until the last man was found, and he could not rest on his laurels and let others do the work for him. He wouldn't get any peace that way.

A light knock on the door derailed his train of thought, and irritation surged through him at the unwanted interruption. With some effort, he quickly tamped it back down. None of his people deserved in any way to bear the brunt of his anger. They had all been beyond stellar in their support of him, and he wanted desperately to show them that he appreciated it. Snapping and snarling at any of them was not the way to do it.

Breathing in steadily, he sat back and called out to the one on the other side of the door.

"Come in, Tosh."

She entered, a puzzled look on her face.

"How did you know it was me?"

Jack chuckled softly, and the sound of it warmed Tosh right through.

"If it was Gwen or Owen, they wouldn't bother knocking. They'd just come barrelling in. Ianto would knock, but he wouldn't wait for me to respond. And as for the Doctor... Well, I probably wouldn't notice him coming in until he was standing over the top of me."

Tosh smiled in appreciation of his attempt at a bit of light humour, but that soon faded as she recalled what she'd come in to talk to him about.

"Jack... Have you thought about what we're going to do about those men?"

She was quietly relieved that the mere mention of them didn't cause an adverse reaction. Jack simply regarded her solemnly.

"There's still one of them out there. I want to interrogate them, and find out who he is so we can pick him up, After that... I don't know. I don't know what I want to do about them."

Tosh frowned worriedly, momentarily distracted from her purpose by concern over Jack's intentions.

"Please, don't take this the wrong way, Jack, but are you sure it's a good idea for you to do it? Interrogate them, I mean?"

A small, bitter smile twisted Jack's lips briefly.

"I'm not going to kill them, Tosh."

She reddened, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

Leaning forward, he stretched across the expanse of his desk and gently squeezed her hand.

"Yes, you did, and it's okay. If you weren't concerned about that, I'd be worried. But I meant it. I don't want to kill them... Not anymore. Don't get me wrong. I did want to for a while, very much so."

"What's changed? If you don't mind me asking…"

"It wouldn't help me," Jack said simply, "and it would make me as bad as them."

"No!" Tosh burst out with a vehemence that startled Jack. "No, Jack, you could never be as bad as them, so don't you dare think like that."

He smiled at her, a sweet and loving smile that was so vastly different to the thousand megawatt Harkness grin that he so often resorted to.

"Thankyou, Toshiko."

They sat in companionable silence briefly before Tosh suddenly recalled why she'd come in to see Jack in the first place.

"Jack, I have an idea for how we can deal with the men."

The smile slid off his face.

"What?"

"UNIT."

Jack's expression darkened considerably.

"Toshiko..."

"Wait, Jack. Hear me out, please. You remember how you found me? And where?"

He nodded wordlessly. Yes, he remembered acutely the dank, horrible isolation cell where he'd found his Toshiko, all because she'd wanted to save her mother's life. Tosh went on quickly, and only a very slight tremor in her voice gave away the nerves she felt at discussing such a topic. And then, suddenly, he realised what she was hinting at.

"Have UNIT lock them up, you mean?"

She nodded quickly, biting lightly at her lower lip.

"Like they did to me. No trial, no access to the legal system, and no chance for ever getting out. They'll be where you never have to worry about them again. Where they can't ever hurt anyone else ever again."

Jack was momentarily lost in thought. They idea had a great deal of merit. Even so, there was one particularly big hurdle.

"I like the sound of it, Tosh. I really do. But do you really think that UNIT would be willing to do that for me right now? I'm not exactly high on their list of favourite people. I doubt they'd pay me any attention."

"Maybe they wouldn't listen to you," Tosh conceded. "But they would listen to him."

Jack looked to see where she was indicating, and felt his breath catch. The Doctor...

"Toshiko, you're a genius!"

She smiled faintly at the fresh enthusiasm.

"I just want you to feel safe, Jack," she admitted. "You deserve to feel safe."

The big megawatt grin faded to make way for something more sincere. He was touched by her concern and care, and he wanted her to know that he appreciated it. The words wouldn't come, though. He kept swallowing convulsively, and imagined he was doing a pretty good impression of a guppy.

For her part, Toshiko seemed to understand. She smiled sweetly at him before standing up.

"Would you like me to talk to the Doctor about it?" she offered. Thankfully, Jack found his voice again.

"No... No, it's okay. I'll do that." He stood up quickly as she turned to go. "Tosh?"

She looked back quizzically, and was startled when Jack suddenly enveloped her in a huge bear hug, almost lifting her clean off the floor.

"What was that for?" she asked with a surprised laugh. To her amusement, Jack actually blushed.

"I just wanted to," he said sheepishly. Tosh couldn't suppress a grin. She didn't even try. Instead, she leaned in to return the hug, and was thrilled that he didn't flinch away from it.

"Anytime, Jack."

The Doctor listened in silence as Jack explained Toshiko's idea. He refrained from telling him exactly who had come up with it, not because he wanted to claim the idea as his own, but because he didn't want the Doctor to be angry at anyone other than him if the Time Lord objected.

His expression was inscrutable, as always, and Jack really had no idea what he was thinking. When the Doctor did finally speak, it was to say pretty much the last thing that Jack expected to hear.

"I really am proud of you, Jack. I hope you know that."

Jack gaped at him, torn between the emotion that the Doctor's words induced, and utter confusion.

"I... You... Sorry?"

The Doctor smiled wryly.

"Jack. Twice tonight, you had an opportunity to kill the men who hurt you. Twice, you chose the higher ground. And now, you've suggested the one solution that benefits everyone, and doesn't involve killing or questionable memory erasing tactics."

"Actually, it wasn't my idea," Jack admitted. "Toshiko came up with it. It was her idea. Until she brought it up, I was all for wiping their memories back to infancy."

If Jack had expected disappointment or anger, he was again surprised when the Doctor's smile broadened.

"I keep misjudging you, Jack. You're a better man than I'll ever be."

Again, Jack couldn't help gaping at the unexpected reaction. The smile faded from the Doctor's face, and he shifted closer to the Captain, reaching out to take his hands in a gentle grip.

"Jack. You have every right and reason to want those men dead. I have no right to stand in judgement over you for that, and yet that's what I've been doing. I am so sorry. Now, though, when you could easily go ahead and use whatever extreme measures you want to deal with them, you instead were willing to listen to someone else's idea, and take it on board. You really are bigger on the inside, Jack, and I am so proud of you."

It was almost too much to bear, and Jack wasn't quite sure how he managed to keep his emotions in check. He felt that he had to be honest, though, even at risk of provoking the Time Lord's anger and disappointment.

"Part of me still wants to kill them," Jack admitted softly. "I really do want to kill them so much. You're right, though. You and Gwen and Kathy… I'm better than that. Or at least, I'm trying to be. Toshiko's suggestion to let UNIT deal with them… It's about as close as I can justify getting to killing them, and it's the only way to guarantee that they'll be locked up for as long as they deserve to be."

"Which is for the rest of their lives," the Doctor mused. He favoured Jack with a smile. "You're making the right choice."

"The thing is," Jack went on uncertainly, "I know I'm not too popular with UNIT at the moment… given they all seem to think I've finally cracked. They aren't exactly going to lock them away just on my say-so."

The Doctor nodded, knowing exactly what Jack was edging towards.

"That would be where I come in. I'll talk to General Macintyre, and tells him what he needs to do. I think he'll be quite cooperative once I give him the broader picture."

"Not yet, though," Jack said quickly. "I need to talk to them first."

Concern flashed across the Doctor's face, and he regarded Jack with a piercing gaze that had the Captain wanting to squirm where he stood.

"Why do you think you need to do that? If it's because you want to try and understand them..."

"No," Jack answered, perhaps a fraction more sharply than he had intended. "I'll never understand that sort of hatred. I don't even want to try. No, it's simpler than that. There's one more of them out there somewhere. They're going to tell us who he is, and where to find him. I have to find him, Doctor. I won't feel safe until we do."

The Doctor conceded, and Jack had a suspicion that the Time Lord had known all along what his intentions were – he had just wanted Jack to admit them out loud.

"All right, Jack. On one condition."

Jack's eyes narrowed slightly, and he unconsciously braced himself.

"What condition?"

The smile that flickered across the Doctor's face was purely predatory, and sent shivers down Jack's spine.

"That we interrogate them together."

"Our guests are awake," Owen said as Jack and the Doctor emerged from Jack's office. It didn't escape his notice that Jack was looking much more settled, and he strongly suspected it was down to Jack's actions earlier that evening. He had some degree of his confidence back, and it was visible to everyone.

"When he says 'our guests'," Tosh interjected, "he means three of them. One is still unconscious."

"And will be for a while," the Doctor confirmed. "When he does eventually wake up, he's going to think he's going the hangover from hell."

"What did you do to him?" Jack wondered, unsurprisingly sounding less than concerned for the man's well-being.

"I put him out of commission," came the stony reply. "He hurt you, Jack. I wasn't going to let him get away with that."

For a split second, Jack flashed back to the Valiant. Hours, days, months of unbearable torture, and at the end of it all was the soul-destroying vision of the Doctor cradling the body of the one responsible for it, like he was the only thing left that mattered. And now... now the Doctor had the nerve to talk like he was being Jack's white knight? It was almost too much to stomach.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and came back to the present to find the Time Lord watching him with an apologetic gaze.

"I'm sorry for that, Jack. I wasn't myself. None of us were quite in our right minds at that point, and you know it."

Yes, he knew. It didn't make it any less painful, but he knew it. Now, though, was not the time to get caught up in those old emotions.

"Ianto!"

Ever reliable, Ianto materialised at Jack's side, ready for business.

"Sir?"

"Bring one of the three that are awake up to the interrogation room. Don't feel like you need to be gentle about it, either." He paused, as though he expected someone to object, but no such protests were forthcoming. For that, he was grateful. Ianto nodded in acquiescence, and went to carry out his instructions.

"Gwen, go with him," Jack added as an afterthought. "Safety in numbers."

She went, not bothering to point out that there was little chance that Ianto was going to let any of them get the drop on him again.

"Owen, can you help Tosh with monitoring?" Jack asked, and Owen complied without argument. The Captain and the Doctor then headed to the interrogation room to wait.

"I don't actually need any help," Tosh pointed out awkwardly, once Jack was gone.

"I know, Tosh," Owen assured her. "So does Jack. He's just trying to prove to himself that he's still in control, and I don't just mean the Hub. Best thing we can do is play along, even if the orders he gives us seem totally pointless. He needs to do it, and we need to humour him."

"I just want him back to the way he was, before it happened," Tosh admitted tremulously. Throwing propriety to the wind, Owen wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug.

"I know, love. We all do."

She noted that he never went as far as to say that it would actually happen, and her heart quietly broke.

to be continued....