Toshiko looked up as the cog wheel drew back and Jack entered carrying Emily on his hip with Ianto not too far behind.
Getting up she went over to them, intending to have a cuddle with Emily. But as she got too close to the little girl, Emily started to cry causing Toshiko to draw back and look extremely hurt at the reaction.
"Its ok Tosh. She's been like this all morning. Try and put her down and she screams the place down. Guess I'm keeping her with me all day so if anything comes up, I won't be able to go with you lot" Jack told her calmly but Toshiko could see the worry in his blue eyes.
"I understand Jack but if she comes around later, I'll be happy to look after her for you if you have to go out" Toshiko smiled, tickling Emily's foot and looking at Jack in sympathy as the little girl whimpered and tucked her face more into her father's neck so she could hide.
"Best to leave her be right now Tosh. You'll just be grizzled at" Ianto told her with a little smile. They had grown close over the years and Jack realised that they had become best friends.
"I'm always being grizzled at. They take one look at me and see me as the bad guy" Owen interrupted as he looked Emily up and down slowly to assess her condition. "And I guess I'm going to be grizzled at now. I need to check her over Jack, bring her to the med bay" Owen ordered him as his disappeared and expected Jack to follow him which obviously he did.
Jack sat on the chair in the med bay with Emily on his lap when it was clear that the little girl wasn't going to let go of Jack for anything. To the point where her grip tightened around his neck and almost strangled him in panic.
Owen was excellent with her, being extremely gentle and checking to see if she was healing. "See, all done now. Perfectly healthy and for being a good little angel" Owen grinned, handing her a lollipop and nodded softly as Emily whispered thank you.
"Your welcome little angel" Owen replied, gazing at her for a few seconds before looking to Jack.
"I think you need to give her something else Owen" Jack told him, giving him a look that Owen read perfectly. "No Jack, I'm not giving her recton. Making her forget her ordeal isn't helping her Jack. Its you not dealing with it and knowing that you easily dismiss it by making her forget".
Jack moved so his daughter was resting her head against his chest and he stroked her hair gently. He just hoped that the words that were being exchanged would go over her head. Since she wasn't fussing, he assumed that she didn't.
"It's not like that. I'm not dismissing it and I'm certainly not doing it so I don't have to deal with the aftermath. She's suffering. She's scared of every moving shadow and she won't even let Tosh touch her. She only lets me and Ianto touch her and that's because we're her parents, it's the same with her brothers. I'm trying to make it better for her" Jack explained.
"Oh and taking her memory off her is making it better is it?" Owen questioned him, raising an eyebrow.
"It did when we had to deal with the 456. It hasn't affected any of my kids. I wasn't about to let them be terrified of aliens. You didn't argue then Owen!" Jack snapped, regretting raising his voice as his daughter whimpered in distress. "Its ok, I'm sorry" he apologised softly, hugging her gently.
"That was different Harkness and you know it! She was two years old, just starting talking and it scared the hell out of me with all that alien talking through the children thing. It was bad enough with the boys being affected by it. You fixed it and we all agreed on retcon because we didn't know if there was going to be any psychological damages from their ordealt" Owen replied, keeping his voice calm even though his eyes were giving him away on how he was really thinking about Jack's decision.
"Just….I don't want her suffering Owen" Jack sighed as he rocked his daughter gently in his arms.
"I know you don't Jack but sometimes you have to do what other parents do and just deal with it and help her the old fashioned way. It's going to take time but it's better for her in the long run. But it's not my decision is it? You're going to rise above me either way aren't you? You're my boss as well as the child's father. You get the final say. Just make sure that you make the right choice" Owen replied.
"I will Owen and I know what's best for my daughter's interests!" Jack told him with a look of stubbornness, watching as Owen just shrugged refusing to argue anymore and crouched down to Emily's level. "Now I'm going to leave you with your Daddy now. Now be nice to Auntie Tosh, there's no need to be scared of her. She's never hurt you as she?" Owen asked gently. Emily looked at him with wide eyes and shook her head slowly before replying with a soft "ok Uncle Owen".
Owen gave Jack a look at Emily's reply then bounded up the stairs back to the main hub, leaving Jack to make his decision about giving Emily retcon or not. He just hoped that Jack made the right decision.