From where he stood, Jack could see the whole of the city, right out towards the bay and the sea beyond it. Below him in the streets, the people looked like ants, tiny and insignificant. With the wind blowing in his ears and the muffled sound of the traffic this place wasn't a quiet retreat, but it wasn't peace Jack sought. Still, he found that there was something calming about standing so high above the rest of the world. He felt closer to the stars, the life he had left behind and somewhere out there, the Doctor. Night was drawing in. The sky was turning dark; the colour of ink. The moon had already revealed itself, an incomplete orb high above Jack's head. In the gaps between the clouds distant stars burnt, scattering tiny white specks across a great sheet of black. Jack held his hand out for a second, pretending to pluck one from the sky.
"Which star will you choose tonight Jack?" his father would ask him as they lay on sand dunes, staring at the stars above their heads.
"That one," a young Jack would reply, pointing to a single star, usually the brightest in the sky.
"Take it carefully, you don't want it to die," his father would remind him, as Jack reached up and pretended to lift the star out of the sky. "Now make a wish but you mustn't tell anyone or it won't come true." The young boy would blow into his clasped hands and with his eyes shut make a wish. Opening his hands he would let the star go free.
Now, standing above the city he called his home, Jack felt like that boy again. He chose the brightest star and imagined he was holding it in his hands. Closing his eyes, he saw his father lying beside him.
"Make a wish Jack," the older man whispered.
That was how Ianto Jones found his lover; standing on the roof of an office building, dangerously close to the edge.
"I've been looking for you," Ianto called to the Captain.
Jack turned around.
"Sorry, I just came up here to think. You ok?" Jack knew Ianto wasn't fond of heights.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You? You looked so far away just then."
"Maybe I was." Jack lifted his head up and gazed again at the stars. "I was thinking about my Dad. When I was a child, there was this game we used to play. I'd pick a star, pretend to take it from the sky and make a wish...I can still hear his voice."
"What did you wish?" Ianto asked, copying Jack by staring at the stars.
"Back then? The usual, birthday presents, simple things. Then when I lost Grey, I'd wish to see him again. I'd ask the stars to keep him safe, because I didn't." Jack closed his eyes, the memories flashing before him, raw and painful.
"It wasn't your fault," Ianto repeated the phrase he'd told Jack a thousand times. He walked up to the Captain and took hold of his hands.
"So why do I still feel so guilty?" Jack squeezed Ianto's hands, glad of their warmth and comfort.
"Let's go home," Ianto suggested.
That thought seemed to awaken Jack from his memories.
"Good idea," he grinned. "The Hub or your place?"
"Mine. I've got some new coffee you can try... if you like." Ianto opened the door which provided access to the stairwell.
"Umm sounds good," Jack replied, following Ianto through the door and down the stairs.
"I've never understood why you like roofs so much anyway," Ianto called back over his shoulder.
"There's something about being so high up at night. It puts everything into perspective. And I like the stars. There's a saying someone told me once, 'I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night'. Guess that kind of sums it up."
"You can see the stars from the ground" Ianto replied.
"I'm never going to persuade you am I?" Jack laughed.
"No."
When they reached the ground floor and were firmly back on solid ground, Ianto breathed a sigh of relief. In future he'd have to invent ways of keeping Jack away from roofs. No doubt the Captain would have a few suggestions.
As he climbed into the SUV and started the engine, Jack looked again at the stars.
"Thank you" he murmured. Smiling at the man beside him, Jack knew his wish had come true.
Ianto Jones loved him.