When Tosh first joined torchwood, she expected it to be like every other job she had taken before. She had always lived as an outsider, and for the first few days, she felt like it was forever gonna be that way.
Jack had always tried to get the team together for events, but she preferred to go out on her own.
She wanted nights below the stars, accompanied by only her thoughts. When Jack found out about her adventures under the stars, he was always asking her out. After a few weeks of his pestering, she finally conceded.
Walking up the large hill, she came upon the team. A plaid picnic blanket was laid out beneath them, with baskets upon baskets of various pastries scattered around.
Jack was spread out in the middle of it, head on Ianto's lap and a cupcake stuffed in his mouth. The frosting was smeared over his face and Ianto was holding a napkin out for him.
Owen was sitting across with them, his legs crossed and fiddling with a slice of cake in his hands.
About 3 feet away from him, Gwen was gazing through a telescope, looking up at the many stars painting the sky. Tosh walked silently up to the blanket and sat down, assuming everyone was going to completely ignore her.
Instead, Gwen walked over and tackled her into a hug.
"Tosh! This was such a brilliant idea! God, why didn't we do this sooner?"
Letting go of her, she settled down next to Owen, pressing an eclair into Tosh's hands and popping a pumpkin chip cookie into her mouth.
"So, how'd you first get into astrology?" Jack asked, his mouth still full with the cupcake from before.
"Oh, well I guess it was from my mom. She was the kind of person who obsessed over zodiacs and such."
Looking down at the eclair in her hands, she remembered days with her mother fondly.
"Oh! Could you tell me about mine?" Gwen seemed very excited, flopping onto the floor and staring up at the sparkling sky as Tosh started
"Well, you should be a sun Taurus, which means you were born in April or May and also you're an earth sign"
Jack suddenly cut in,
"Hey Tosh, do you want to see who can name more stars? The winner gets an extra cake!"
A smile played on Tosh's lips, and she decided it would be fun.
"How about we name a constellation and see who can find it first?"
"Challenge accepted."
After a few rounds of the game, they ended up in a tie, laughing over Owen's story about how he had mispronounced Capricorn.
"Did I ever tell you guys about my trip to Mars?" Jack thought out loud, half focused on what he was saying.
"You? Been to mars?" Ianto stared down in disbelief.
Jack's words suddenly registered in his head, and he began to explain.
"Yeah! There was a situation with some Slitheen, so I went with this friend, well actually he was my boyfriend, Arthan. Once we helped them get back to Raxacoricofallapatorius, we spent the night there. The locals were quite lovely! Very hospitable."
"Hmm, take me there some day?" Gwen said, still mesmerized by the stars.
"I would love to. We could all travel the stars together."
A silence drifted through them as they all stared up at the stars.
Stars shifted around, airplanes flew over, and constellations mentally connected in Tosh's head. She recognized Ursa Major and Minor, Canis Major, and Orion, and she loved it. They sparkled, lighting up her eyes and leaving her speechless. Her love of the stars would never fade, and she felt nostalgic for memories she never had. Traveling the stars was her fantasy, her need to escape Earth fueling it.
"Hey, Gwen, that's your zodiac constellation!" Tosh said as she pointed upwards at a group of dots in the sky.
Gwen didn't know which stars were which but smiled at Tosh's excitement anyway.
They didn't often have calm nights like this, but whenever they did, it was the times where they felt most comforted. Tosh was happy to finally have a family, and she felt like she would never be alone again. The stars shined above them and the torchwood team was happy. Just happy.