"Come on, I want you to meet him," Harper begged.

Jack sighed, "fine. But only because it's a quiet night."

Harper smiled, "you'll love James, I promise." She was ecstatic that her father had finally agreed to meet the man who she'd been seeing for the past couple weeks. At the end of the day she dated who she wanted but the approval of her family still meant something. Especially since James was the first guy she'd gone out with since meeting her father. She really wanted his approval.

They went to meet James at a restaurant right near Cardiff Bay. Jack noticed just how happy Harper was to see him.

"James, this is my father," she said, introducing them, "and Dad, this is James Astor."

James stuck out a hand, "it's nice to finally meet you Mr. Sylano."

"It's Harkness, actually. Captain Jack Harkness," Jack said, correcting the young man.

James went stone faced, "oh, I'm so sorry. I just sort of assumed since Harper's last name was…."

"It's alright," Jack assured him, "the family history's a little bit complicated."

Harper leaned closer to James, "I'll explain the whole situation later," she whispered.

Jack could tell the man had good intentions. He wasn't sure how he felt about James yet, but he would soon find out. As dinner went on, Jack soon found out that this guy was pretty much and idiot. A real smug idiot. Good looking enough, he could see why Harper was going out with him. Still, there was something that Jack didn't like about James. He had known his fair share of men and he had a feeling that James was the type who would be all sweet and nice but who wouldn't stick around. He knew that this guy was only going to break his daughter's heart but he felt as though right now there was nothing he could do about it.

From where she was standing, Harper thought the dinner was going alright. Her father and James seemed to be getting along well so far. For the moment she was relieved. Not that she had been overly worried, James was such a sweetie that anyone would be an idiot not to like him. Still, it was good to know that James was getting her father's approval.

Overall dinner was pleasant. Jack insisted on paying the bill, despite James' attempts to pay. When Harper and Jack got back to the hub, Harper was still glowing.

"So, what do you think of James?" she asked.

Jack didn't want to answer. He didn't want to lie to her but at the same time he didn't want to hurt her feelings, "you want my honest opinion?"

Harper's smile faded a bit, "of course I do. Why? What is it?"

Taking a deep breath, Jack started, "well he seems like a nice enough guy, it's just…" he trailed off.

"It's just what?" Harper demanded.

"He seems like the kind of guy who's nice enough at first and maybe he genuinely is but after a few months, maybe even a few weeks, he'll break your heart."

Harper stared at her father in disbelief. She could not believe it. He had put on a nice persona at dinner and now he was pulling a complete one eighty on her. "You've known him for a sum total of three hours and now you claim to know his intentions?"

"You wanted my honest opinion, there it is," Jack said.

Harper scoffed, "yeah, it's honest but completely wrong!"

"Harper I've been alive for over a century! I've known a lot of men and I know James' type. Trust me, this isn't going to end well."

"And you know that don't you?" Harper said begrudgingly, "what if it does end well? What are you going to say if you're standing at our wedding in five years?"

"I'm just trying to look out for you," Jack told her.

"That doesn't mean that you can just go around judging the people I date!" Harper yelled.

Jack really didn't want this to escalate. While he wanted to look out for his daughter, he didn't want to end up having a shouting match over something like this, "fine, don't listen to my opinion."

"Oh I'm listening alright," Harper said, "I hear you loud and bloody clear but you are so, so wrong about James."

"You asked for my opinion and I gave it," Jack stated, "you don't like it then you can ignore it."

Harper sighed, "you don't get it do you? You don't understand how hard it is to hear your own father tell you that you're dating someone who's just going to break your heart. To hear that he thinks that someone who you really like, who you might be falling in love with, is just another heartbreaker."

Jack sometimes forgot the impact that his words could have on Harper. It had be a very long time since he'd had parents to look up to. He'd forgotten just how much a parent's opinion meant. "Harper, it's your life. You do what you want with it."

"So that's it then?" Harper shook her head and crossed her arms in disbelief, "well I'm glad you're vein' honest," and with that final remark, she stormed off towards her bedroom.

It was only ten minutes after when Jack appeared in her doorway.

"Come to criticize my choice in men some more?" she asked, cynically.

"No," Jack said, "I came to apologize. When I said to do what you want with your life, I meant it."

"Yeah, great, fine," Harper responded, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Look, I may have issues with James but I'll do my best to get along with him," Jack continued.

Harper looked up, "right then," was her only response.

"Okay, good night then. I'll see you in the morning," Jack said, leaving his place in the doorframe.

Even if Jack had agreed to play nice with James, Harper could still feel a tension between her and her father. In her mind, the issue wasn't completely resolved. Her father still had an issue with James, that was an undeniable fact. She knew that if it were anyone else disapproving of her choice in men that she would rip them to shreds. She'd done it before but with her father it was different, every time with him it was different. Her own inability to stand up for herself was starting to get to her. If only she could get rid of that damn guilt. If she could just shake the feeling that she was a stupid mistake, who's only accomplishment was ruining the lives of both her parents. The feeling that she was simply an interference made her sick to her stomach. It made her want to punch a hole in the wall and regurgitate all of her organs at the same time. It was possibly the worst, most conflicting feeling ever.

Sleep, that was what she needed. She would feel better in the morning. The awful feeling would go away and things would go back to normal again. Well, as normal as they got around here. Tomorrow would be better.