Let's take a moment to remember Bernard Cribbins, who sadly passed away yesterday. May he forever fly in the TARDIS in the sky.

TW: Glad to hear it. I wouldn't call it stupidity as much as fear, maybe hubris. The Daleks may look like robots but they're still a living organism and like so many, panicked when faced with extinction.

Screw Loose: RIP.

The next morning found Jack in the TARDIS dining room, an untouched cup of tea in front of him. Jack stared off silently, deep in thought as he mused over everything they had learned the last few days. The Doctor, the cracks in time, the TARDIS, it was a lot to take in.

Jack wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there when he heard footsteps. Jack looked up to see Martha enter the room and, from the look on her face, she was as surprised to find him there as he was to see her.

"Jack, what are you doing up so early?" Martha asked in surprise.

"Can it really be early on a time machine?" Jack asked dryly before shrugging. "I always get up early. Habit after half a century working for Torchwood."

"It's more than that though, isn't it?" Martha asked and he looked at her sharply. "I haven't wanted to pry, but in these recordings, you get this look sometimes, like you're thinking of something else, something far away. Jack…I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine Martha," Jack said evasively and Martha smiled tightly.

"I've heard you lie enough to know what it sounds like," Martha said as she sat down across from him. "Jack, please, let me help."

"What do you want me to say Martha?" Jack asked, suddenly tired. "That I haven't slept for over three years? That my nightmares are of Ianto's screams? That every time I close my eyes I see Steven's broken body and hear Alice's voice blaming me, calling me a monster? What good does that do?"

"Jack…I can't pretend to know what you've gone through, but you're my friend. I care about you," Martha said gently and Jack smiled tightly.

"I appreciate that Martha, more than you know. But it doesn't change anything," Jack said with a heavy sigh. "I killed my own grandson. And the worst part is I don't regret it, just that it had to be done."

"There was no other way Jack. If there had been one, you would have taken it," Martha tried to argue and Jack smiled tightly.

"There was another choice. I just chose the one that left my grandson dead," Jack said in self-loathing.

"The only other option was to allow the 456 to take ten percent of the world's children," Jack and Martha looked to see Jane the room. "Could you have lived with that Jack? Knowing you could have stopped it?"

"Maybe not, but at least Steven would still be alive," Jack said darkly, looking down at his tea like it was something disgusting.

"Jack," Martha said carefully and he sighed heavily.

"No, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself," Jack admitted, feeling like a monster. "But I don't know how to live with this either."

"We all have things we can't live. Why do I think I'm doing all this?" Jane asked and they looked at her bewildered. "You think all this is just because I want to save the universe? I can't deny that it's something want more than anything, but that's not my only reason. I want to wake up one day and not have nightmares of my father dying in my arms."

"You were there, when he died," Jack realized in horror and Jane nodded.

"And so were you. But you were only there for a few days, I was there for months. Something was wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew something was wrong. I knew it but I ignored it. And by the time I figured it out…" Jane trailed off but the saw the broken expression on her face. "It's as much about clearing my own consciousness as it is saving the world. So I do get it Jack. I do."

For a long moment, the room was silent.

"We're not gods Jack; we do the best we can. We just have to learn to live with the lives we can't save. You did the best you could in an impossible situation. You need to learn to forgive yourself. It doesn't mean forgetting what happened, but you need to let it go, move on," Jane told him gently.

"You want the impossible," Jack said darkly.

Jack then stood up and walked out, leaving his untouched tea behind as Martha and Jane stared after him in concern.

"I wish there was some way to help him," Martha said with a sigh.

"There might be," Jane mused with a thoughtful look on her face. "But it'll take some work."

"Feel like sharing your plan?" Martha asked dryly as she looked at Jane curiously.

"Haven't you learned by now? I only share when I want to," Jane said with a grin and Martha sighed in exasperation.

"About what you said…about The Doctor…" Martha trailed off, not sure how to bring it up and Jane's smile dimmed.

"I will tell you everything. Just not right now," Jane promised.

Martha wasn't satisfied by this answer. But, at the very least, she knew she'd get her answer eventually. So she nodded silently.

Not long after, Mickey, Donna and Wilf entered the room, surprised to see them sitting there.

"Hey. Everything alright?" Mickey asked as he walked up to Martha, looking back and forth between her and Jane, seeming to sense something was wrong.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," Martha lied, hoping he wouldn't ask questions.

Mickey saw through the lie, but, miraculously, he nodded, deciding not to push. She would tell him later, after another day of recording, when they were alone. For now, he let sleeping dogs lie.

"So, who wants breakfast?" Jane asked.

Poor Jack. What else need be said?