Upon waking up, Harper experienced a mild moment of panic. It always happened when she woke up in an unfamiliar bed. However she managed to quickly recall the events of yesterday. It was real after all.
She looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost eleven in the morning, she had really slept in. On the nightstand she also noticed a plate of french toast and a cup of tea with a toaster pastry on the side. She sat up and smiled. It hadn't even been twenty four hours and Jack already seemed to be spoiling her rotten. He must have really wanted to reconcile, but Harper wasn't complaining. She ate her breakfast then got up to see if she could make herself look at least semi-presentable. Afterwords she headed up to the main area of the hub.
To her surprise, the place was rather quiet. Except for that bloody pterodactyl that was flying overhead. How the hell did that get in there anyway? She figured Ianto and Gwen had to be in by now. If they weren't she wouldn't be surprised if her dad gave them the sack. However, she couldn't see neither of them. Jack was quick to notice her, "morning, Harper," he called, coming over to see her, "you sleep well?"
Harper nodded, "yeah, that bed's really comfortable" she replied, "and thanks for the breakfast by the way. The toaster pastry was a nice touch."
"All Ianto's doing," Jack admitted, "I was gonna go get you a latte and a breakfast sandwich but Ianto decided that he felt like cooking."
"I'll have to remember to thank him then," Harper noted aloud, looking around to see if Ianto was anywhere in sight, "where is he anyways?"
"I'm right here," Ianto appeared as if on queue, "and, you're welcome."
Harper nodded, acknowledging his presence.
"Well I would introduce you two but it I guess you've already met," Jack chimed in. He wondered if Harper suspected anything between him and Ianto. He wanted to tell her that they were a couple be he had no idea how she would react. He knew that it was most kids' ideal to have their parents together and he was unsure whether Harper was still stuck on that ideal or not. They had just reconnected. They had practically just met. There was no way that Jack was going to risk ruining that. He would tell her eventually, but not now.
Ianto stood there, somewhat awkwardly, "yes,we did meet" Ianto said, "I don't think I formally introduced myself though. I'm Ianto Jones, if you didn't already know."
Just then a woman, who Harper was pretty sure was Gwen, walked in, "and I'm Gwen Cooper, why're we introducing ourselves…" she cut herself off, noticing Harper, "oh hello. You're Jack's daughter right?"
Harper nodded, "I'm Harper, Harper Sylano."
Gwen looked somewhat shocked, "you're Welsh!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, yeah I am," Harper replied, "Everyone seems surprised by it."
"Well, Jack, looks like you're surrounded by us," Gwen joked.
Jack shrugged, "guess I'll be the only one pronouncing any vowels around here."
"Oh shut up," Gwen teased, slapping Jack playfully on the arm before changing her tone, "anyways, I still can't figure out those equations that Tosh left behind. It's way beyond my level of maths."
Jack opened his mouth to speak but Harper beat him to it, "I could have a look at them," she suggested, "I don't really like maths and all but apparently you need them to be an architect so I do know them."
Gwen looked at Jack, as though she was waiting for his approval. Jack just shrugged so Gwen took Harper over to the computer, "these," Gwen said, pointing to the equations on the screen, "none of us can figure out what the bloody hell they mean, much less do anything with them."
Ah, differential calculus. Something Harper despised but had to put up with over the years.
"The only instructions I could find were these," Gwen continued, pointing to a sticky note on the top right hand corner of the computer.
Harper read it, 'dy/dx=instantanious acceleration in rift activity'. Made enough sense. Not that Harper knew anything about this 'rift' or it's 'activity' but that didn't mean she couldn't solve the equation. She took a look at the main function on the computer. It looked simple enough. Within just a few minutes, Harper had found the derivative, which they apparently needed. "Alright, here you go," she said, handing the paper with her answer on it to Gwen.
Jack came over to have a look at what his daughter had written, "nice work Harps, you might have just helped us predict when spikes in rift activity might occur."
Harper shrugged, "it might be wrong but I'm glad I could help." She then turned to look at the clock, remembering all the drafting that she had planned to do that day, "well I should get going. I've got stuff to do. Thanks for letting me stay the night and thank you, Ianto for the breakfast."
Jack stepped closer toward her, not wanting her to leave just yet. He still felt as though he had just met her and now it was as if they were about to drift apart again, "you're leaving so soon?"
"Like I said, there's a lot of stuff I have to do today," Harper replied, "it was really nice meeting you and I really want to spend more time with you so I'll be in touch, I promise."
"I'll hold you to that promise," Jack said.
"Alright dad," Harper said, hugging her father, "I'll see you later," and with that she left through the large gear door that she had come through the day before.
Jack wanted to believe that she would come back but part of him worried that she wouldn't. He didn't like that thought. He had enjoyed spending time with her the night before. Harper was definitely someone he was proud to call his daughter.
"So, you gonna get her to come work for us?" Gwen asked, pulling Jack away from his thoughts.
"Huh?" Jack responded, turning to face her.
"Well she can figure out Tosh's formulas so why not?" Gwen suggested.
Jack pondered the idea. He wasn't keen on the idea of putting his daughter out in the field, right in the middle of harm's way. However Gwen did have a point. Harper would be a valuable addition to the team. At least until they could find another techie type. It would also be a good excuse to see her often. Still, he was unsure about it, "I don't know…" was the only response that Jack had.
It was late afternoon and Harper had spent the whole day working on drafts. Her entire coffee table was covered in them by now and she was having to be careful when she took snack or tea breaks so that she didn't spill anything. She was thinking about when she would visit her father next. Maybe tomorrow after uni or even…
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. Somewhat surprised, she went to open it only to find Jack standing there.
"Dad!" she exclaimed, startled. How the hell did he know where she lived? "What're you doing here? How did you find me? What am I saying? Come in. Sorry about the mess." She moved out of the way, letting her father enter the flat.
"Torchwood software," he said, answering Harper's first question, "lets us find anyone. I never used it to find you before cause I was trying to keep my distance, but now.." he trailed off, assuming that Harper got the idea. Which, of course she did.
Harper nodded slowly, admittedly she still felt a bit weird about the fact that he had found her, "so did you just really want to see me or was there something else?" she asked.
Jack walked in further, stopping just a few feet away from her, "I'd like to offer you a job," he stated, "at Torchwood."
There was a long pause before Harper could reply, "you need architects at Torchwood? Or historians? What exactly are you offering?"
"We need someone to work with all the stuff Tosh left behind before she died. The formulas, rift calculations, all that tech stuff that none of us at the hub can do." Jack explained.
Harper took a deep breath before replying. She wasn't sure how to nicely tell him that she didn't want the job. "I'm sorry Dad but I can't accept," she said, "I don't want to spend my days doing maths and all that. I don't even like maths, I just happen to be good at them. I want to be an architect and as interesting as Torchwood sounds, what you're offering just isn't right. I'm really sorry." She wasn't sure why she was being so apologetic. She really had nothing to apologize for. Hell, he was the one who hadn't been there all her life and now all of a sudden he was offering her a job. But for some reason she felt bad declining his offer.
Jack simply nodded, looking somewhat disappointed, "I understand," he said, "It's not as if I have the right to ask you anyways." He paused, glancing at the ground, then looking back up at Harper, "But if you change your mind let me know. I'll find you a place." He turned to leave but Harper stopped him.
"You don't have to leave you know," she said, "I was just about to make supper and I don't think I can eat this whole box of mac and cheese all by myself."
"You look like you're busy…"
Harper cut him off, "I've done enough for today. Please, stay and eat."
Jack didn't want to intrude but he also couldn't turn down a free meal and a chance to further reconnect with his daughter, "alright. I guess I can't say no to you."
