"And her mother's temper," Jack tried to laugh, but he couldn't. He tried to lift it and pretend it was nothing, but it wasn't.

He took a deep breath as they moved away, trying to make the air fill his lungs and stop himself from tensing as much as he was.

Alice was everything to Jack, though he doubted she ever knew it. She never really understood and neither did Lucia. She was fully within her rights to hate him for what he did, after all he hated himself for it. Whether this was a hallucination or not, she was right. Jack had blood on his hands, and that would never wash off.

"Was it?" he snapped again, turning his head to the Doctor. He shook his head and closed his eyes, exhaling. "Sorry," he said softer, "sorry." He hadn't prepared for her. Perhaps Ianto, not that that would be easy either. Not that anyone would be easy. But not her.