Fffc August Special - For safety's sake

[m_findlow]

Title: For safety's sake
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto, OC
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,595 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for fffc August Special - Apple related idioms (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree)
Summary: Jack and his daughter come to blows over rules at work.

Sian gave her father a determined glare, watching him sitting there behind his desk. 'You can't do this.'

Jack leaned forward. 'I can. And I have to. We have rules in place for a reason.'

He glared back at the young woman. It was like looking in a mirror some days, same mouse brown hair that always managed to fall into place without tying, same intense blue eyes, the sharp line of the nose, that sturdy chin. There was no mistaking her for anything other than his daughter. Even now, her temper and her defiance of the rules were most certainly inherited from him.

She folded her arms, standing a little taller, though it wasn't necessary with her long frame. 'Well, your rules are crap.'

Jack knew he had to lay down the line. There were very few times when he'd had to, but this was one occasion where if he gave an inch, he knew she'd take a mile. And he'd give it because he hated to deny her anything. But he knew he couldn't. 'You don't have to like the rules, but you do have to follow them,' he replied, keeping his gaze stern. 'I'm your boss, and your father. I get the last word, unless of course you'd like to take it up with your Dad, and he's an even bigger stickler for protocol than me.'

Sian rolled her eyes. It was a remnant of those rebellious teenage years, still clinging for survival. Where Ianto did it, it came from a place of mild amusement and sufferance. Sian used it as a weapon of indignation. 'As if Dad is going to overrule anything you say.'

Jack didn't allow himself to be drawn into the comment. They'd already discussed the matter at length, debated it, and decided that this was for the best. 'Nick is going to be reassigned whether you like it or not. Unless of course you're going to tell me you've suddenly broken up, and even then, I think I'd have him reassigned. To Siberia,' he added, reminding her what he'd do to any guy who broke his little girl's heart.

'But we make a great team. You haven't seen us out in the field,' she protested, switching from petulant defiance to reasoned argument.

'Believe me, I see a lot more than you think I do.' He was reasonably sure he wasn't that far removed from what was happening on the ground. He still had his own team based in Cardiff, - though they were held in reserve for special projects elsewhere if required - and he still kept a close eye on other local operations. Every report crossed his desk, whether he liked it or not, as Ianto often reminded him.

'This isn't fair, Dad. I love him.'

Who was this twenty year old woman, and what had she done with the little girl he used to grab by the arms and swing around in mad circles? Once upon a time, there'd only been enough love in her heart for her two dads. Now they had to contend with a third intruder.  'Exactly,' he replied, getting his back up at having to share his daughter, even though he both knew and liked her chosen beau. 'This is why we have the rule about fraternisation. I don't want your judgement impaired, or Nick's.'

Sian gave him a surprised look. 'Impaired? You make it sound like all we do all day is moon at one another. We're fully trained field officers, Dad.'

Jack clasped his hands together on the desk, giving them something to occupy them. 'And how many times have you been in a situation where you've had to make a call about what to do and who to back up first? Sometimes you can't control what happens out there, and worrying about what your lover might be doing takes your focus away from what you need to do to keep yourself and your team alive.'

Sian snorted. 'You're such a goddamn hypocrite. You and Dad used to team up all the time back in the day. Hell, I know you two still occasionally go out and handle things without the rest of us for backup. Why is it okay for you?'

Jack clenched his jaw. 'It's different for us. It's not the same risk. When we put our lives on the line, we know that there's always a way of coming back. You don't have that luxury. You have one life, Sian. One. There's no second chances, no do-over.'

'So, it's okay for you, because you don't worry about Dad dying.'

'I worry about him all the time.' His judgement had been clouded for more years than he dared admit. Even knowing Ianto would come back to him didn't make it any easier. When things got crazy, love always won out over rational thought. Bad decisions cost lives as he was all too well aware. He let out a breath and stood up, coming around to the other side of the desk, taking his daughter's hands in his own. 'I care about you, baby girl. And I care about Nick. All this rule does is make sure that you have one less thing to worry about when things get crazy. God knows it's hard enough to keep your head when it all goes wrong.'

Jack sensed those walls of defiance slowly crumbling at his empassioned pleading. 'But we're good together. Like you and Dad. We have each other's backs.'

'And you still will. Just not out in the field. You have a good team, Sian, and good people all around you. They've got your back, just like you've got theirs. Imagine if Nick got hurt in the line of duty because he was worried about you instead of what was going on around him. You'd never forgive yourself.'

'He wouldn't.' Her protest was feeble at best.

'Oh? Just like you wouldn't worry about him? Just like I wouldn't worry about your Dad? Just   like I don't worry about you every time you go out there?'

'It's...'

'Different?' He let go of her hands, running them up her arms and holding her tight. 'No, sweetie. It's really not. We're all human. We're all flawed. We love deeply and wholeheartedly, and it blinds us to everything else. You need to have your head in the game to protect your team so that you can come home each night, knowing that there's someone special to come home to. That's all I want for you, to be safe and to come home to us, and Nick.' He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, not caring if anyone saw them. They might be boss and employee, but they were also still father and daughter.

'I'm still mad at you,' Sian said, though the words were muffled into the lapel of Jack's coat as she snuggled her head there.

Jack smiled, leaning down to kiss her. He didn't care how old she got, or how embarrassing it might be. 'I wouldn't be your Dad if you didn't get mad at me trying to look out for you.'

'Alright, enough with the mush, Dad,' she said, squirming out of his grip, the tender moment gone, as brief and beautiful as a firebird. 'Where will you reassign him? You didn't mean what you said about Siberia, did you?'

'Only if he breaks your heart, sweetie. I'm not even sure we have an office there, although the Russian outpost is pretty close. And then that's assuming we don't kill him first.'

She gave him a slap, though there was little malice in it, barely stinging the side of his arm. 'I hate how believable you sound when you say things like that.'

He chuckled. 'Why do you think we have a morgue downstairs? It's where I keep all the bodies of the ex-boyfriends I've dealt with. Including your Dad's.'

'Har har. As if Dad would have had other boyfriends.'

'Not anymore,' Jack teased.

She gave him a shove and left his office, declaring she had real work to do, including making a shortlist of people she wanted for Nick's replacement.

Jack settled back behind his desk, sighing as he saw the thirty new emails that had arrived in his inbox. Who'd have thought an argument with his daughter would be the lesser of the two evils? There was a gentle knock at the door which delayed the pain of reading them a moment longer. 'How'd it go?' Ianto asked.

Jack rolled his eyes. Ianto must have been thoroughly pleased to have gotten out of having this conversation with his daughter.

'She was pissed off, of course,' he replied. 'But she'll come around.'

Ianto came over and perched on the edge of the desk, the way he had a million times before. 'I know someone else who would have balked at the idea of being split up from his lover.'

Jack leaned back, taking in the full view of his dapper husband, sitting there in his perfectly contoured suit. 'I don't know who you mean,' he replied.

Ianto gave a playful smirk. 'The apple never falls far from the tree, does it?'

Jack frowned, watching through the window of his office as Sian stopped mid-way, running into her boyfriend and kissing him in public, knowing full well she could be seen. Jack bristled momentarily at the overt display, meant for him. 'Sometimes the tree wishes the apple had stayed put right there on the branch where it could keep a proper grip on it,' he complained.

Comments

[bk_forever]

It's so hard for good daddies to watch their little girls growing up. Jack handled that really well though. I love the last line!

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

Jack doesn't like sharing anyone he loves but he'll get used to it eventually. Nick sounds like a bit of a stayer. Just imagine have Jack for an in-law!