Ianto was idly turning the pages of a magazine while he manned the Tourist Office. Most of the time the office was shut and locked but during the summer months, Ianto tried to keep it open as regularly as possible. He enjoyed it, actually, as a break from the aliens and other insanity of Torchwood. So when the door opened and the bell rang, Ianto smiled genuinely and closed his magazine, saying, "Can I help you…?"

His eyes went wide and both his eyebrows shot upwards. The woman in front of him was a female version of Jack Harkness. She had the same jawline and long nose, a slight upturn at the tip. She had the same dark hair, though hers was slightly curled. The line of the brow was the same but the eyes were hazel, not blue.

"Ianto Jones?" she asked.

"You must be Alice Carter," Ianto said, extending his hand. He gave her a friendly smile that was not returned. "It's good to finally meet you."

Alice shook the his hand and said, "I wish I could say I've heard about you from Dad but I'd be lying."

"Jack has mentioned you in passing," Ianto said. He knew things between Jack and his daughter were strained but he hadn't realised quite how badly until this very moment. He looked over his shoulder at the CCTV camera and said, "How about we go for a bit of a walk?"

Alice nodded and Ianto hurried around the counter to open the door for her but she didn't wait for the chivalrous gesture. The two of them stepped out onto the quay, Ianto locking the door behind them.

"Auntie Mei-Mei stopped by yesterday with your invitation," Alice said. "I suppose congratulations are in order."

She may have said they were in order but she didn't seem to be offering any so Ianto ignored the second half of her statement and the slightly sarcastic tone that went with it.

"I know, she said you were going to think about it," Ianto said, putting his hands into his pockets as he walked. "I told her to tell you that you didn't have to reply. I certainly wasn't expecting one in person-"

"I haven't decided yet," Alice said. "I wanted to meet you first."

Ianto raised an eyebrow, not really understanding how meeting him would sway her choice and he said so.

"My Mum always told me that my father's a dangerous man, that trouble follows him where ever he goes and that if I got mixed up with him that no good could come of it," Alice said. Ianto saw what Miranda meant. She was saying the words like a recitation, like she'd repeated them over and over again. "Auntie Mei-Mei said I should stop parroting my Mum and think for myself. My Mum taught me that you can judge the character of a man by the company he keeps. Dad's marrying you so here I am to see what kind of company he keeps and to think for myself. So, why are you marrying him?"

"I love him," he replied, instantaneously. He tried to keep his tone light, to ease the tension between them. "I would have thought that'd be obvious."

"And what about when he leaves you when you're old and grey for the next young thing that takes his fancy?" Alice asked.

Ianto stopped walking and turned to Alice. He took a step back and opened his coat, revealing the longsword concealed inside. "I'm not going to be getting old and grey."

Alice took a step back away from the weapon. There was so much contempt in her voice. "You're immortal like Auntie Mei-Mei."

Ianto nodded, securing the flap inside his coat. "I wasn't like this when I met your father. I didn't know about any of it until I died and woke up seven months ago. Torchwood is a dangerous job."

"Mum always said," Alice said to herself. "You know my father better than I do. Do you think he's dangerous?"

Ianto looked down at his feet. He scraped at the ground with his shoe and then kicked a pebble. He remembered what he'd said so many years ago, 'You like to think you're a hero but you're the biggest monster of all…'

"Depends on how you look at it really. We're all dangerous when you think on it. The danger each one of us is to someone else varies. People think when you become immortal that you just forget about all the things that can hurt you when in reality you become more aware of it. Not the physical things, I don't worry about drunk drivers or my cholesterol anymore… but I worry about the things that can hurt here," Ianto said, tapping his chest and then his head, "or here because those kinds of hurts can last a lifetime and a lifetime for me just took on a whole new meaning. And I guess if you look at it that way, Jack's very dangerous to me because he can shatter them both. Betrayal rarely comes from an enemy. In an enemy you expect it. It blindsides us from those we love."

He turned around and leaned against the railing, crossing his arms over his chest. "I can promise you that Jack would never want to hurt you or his grandson intentionally. You have to define what you think danger is, Alice, what kind of harm you think Jack will do to you and your son and you have to determine if that's acceptable to you. I'm not the best judge of that."

Alice was looking at him, a small crease between her eyes. Ianto nearly wanted to laugh at how like Jack she looked at that moment. "You're not what I expected. At all."

"Well, I'm not sure that's a good thing or a bad thing," Ianto said with a smile and a shrug.

"Neither do I," she admitted, smiling herself for the first time. "This is all… so very 'Dad'."

Ianto winced at the way she said that, like she was turning Jack into some sort of bizarre adjective and not in the affectionately teasing way that the team did it. He'd been trying to keep this conversation civil but Alice was talking about the man he loved with contempt and that angered him.

"I'm not going to stand here, Alice, and say that I know how you feel or that I understand because I don't," Ianto said, trying to keep his cool. "The idea of becoming your step-father is a bit ridiculous since you're older than I am but I hope that friends isn't outside the realm of possibility."

"I haven't decided anything yet, Ianto," Alice said, shaking her head.

Ianto sighed. That's always the problem it seems… "I know I'm not married to your father yet but I'd like to say something, if you don't mind… It might not be something you want to hear."

Alice looked at him and nodded.

"I can always tell when Jack is going to visit you and Steven. He steals my hair gel and changes his shirts four times. Having both of you in his life… in our lives would mean a lot to us," Ianto said, crossing his arms. "But I'll be honest with you, Alice, you need to either piss or get off the pot about it because when you decide you want him in your life and then shut him back out it hurts him and that is very fucking much my business. Either you want him in your life, or you don't and I am done watching what this two step of yours is does to him. I know he's tried to introduce us on at least three separate occasions. When you cancelled, he was devastated and then I'm guessing that he stopped asking."

"You and Auntie Mei-Mei defending him, how sweet," Alice said, rolling her eyes.

Now, he saw what Miranda meant by petulant. He couldn't believe this woman was older than him. Ianto was realising the core of the problem. Alice had no respect for her father. He didn't bother keeping the anger out of his voice this time. "I want you to think about what you just said because your aunt and I are defending your father for a reason. Yes, we love him but the whole team loves him. Every one of us would follow your father to our deaths, without question. You say your mother told you to judge someone's character by their company? I want you to think about the sort of man who engenders that kind of loyalty and devotion from people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good and then ask yourself what sort of man your think your father is."

Ianto turned on his heel and started walking back towards the Tourist Office wondering and hoping that he hadn't made the whole situation worse.