Title: Taking Some Time
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Carl Hickman/Louis Daniel
Fandom: Crossing Lines
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,026
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Carl Hickman or Louis Daniel, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

"I think we need to take a vacation."

Carl kept his voice light and unconcerned, but inside, he was holding his breath. He'd meant what he said, and he hoped that Louis would agree.

He was worried about his boyfriend. He hadn't thought that Louis should go back to work so soon after leaving the hospital; he was sure that Louis needed more rest, not just from the physical side of what they did, but from the stress and strain of leading the team.

Carl was sure that the others agreed -- but he knew that Louis didn't. The last thing Louis would agree to do was take a vacation, even a short one.

So somehow, it fell to him to talk his boyfriend into it -- if he could. Carl didn't think that the was the most persuasive of people, especially with someone like Louis, who could be as stubborn as a mule whenever he really didn't want to do something.

But he was going to try his best, and hope that he could be persuasive enough to talk Louis into taking at least a short vacation.

A vacation that would include him.

Could the rest of the team cope on their own for a week or so? Carl was sure that they could; and at the moment, they had no cases, anyway.

Of course, Genovese was still out there, he thought with a grimace. They had to catch that bastard before he destroyed any more lives, but right now, they had no leads on where he was. He seemed to have gone underground, effectively vanishing from sight.

And if they had no clue as to how to find him, then they couldn't go after him. He wanted his revenge, but he would have to be patient.

But for the present, Genovese wasn't his biggest worry.

He could feel that Louis was tiring himself out far too easily; he hadn't taken enough time to fully recover before he'd gone back to work.

Even though Dorn hadn't said anything about it, Carl could sense that he was worried about Louis, too. He didn't think the rest of the team realized just how much every day of work took out of Louis; they were too wrapped up with their work, and their own problems.

But he saw, and so did Dorn. They knew Louis far better than the others did, and they could see when he was pushing himself too hard.

"You've been working too hard," he began, only to be met with Louis holding up a hand and shaking his head, a faint frown between his brows.

"I have been waiting for you to say that, Carl," Louis told him with a sigh. "Yes, I know that I'm getting tired more quickly than I should be. And yes, I might have gone back to work a bit too soon. But I am being careful with my health, I promise you."

Carl had to admit that was true, now that they were together, and Louis felt that he had a future, he was trying to take better care of himself.

There was no more recklessness, which Carl was glad to eee.

But at the same time, Louis was still pushing himself to be at the peak of his game when it came to their cases, and it was too soon for that.

"You can't keep going like this, Louis," Carl said softly, his gaze locked with his boyfriend's. "I know you want to believe that you're in top form, and honestly, you're close to it. But you're not all the way there yet, and pushing yourself too hard isn't going to help."

Louis looked away from him, and Carl knew that he was winning this particular battle. Louis couldn't deny that he was trying to do too much.

"It's a good time for a vacation," he said quietly. "For both of us."

Louis sighed at that, his dark gaze searching Carl's Carl thought it was time to tell a little white lie, one that would benefit Louis as well as himself.

"I've been feeling a little off my game lately, too," he confessed, though he actually was feeling no such thing. But if he could make Louis believe that, then maybe his boyfriend would consent to take at least a short vacation. It would do them both good.

"It didn't realize that you had been feeling tired," Louis said softly, his frown deepening. "Have you told Dorn that you think we both need a break?"

Carl nodded, deciding that yet another small white lie was in order. He was sure that Dorn would approve of it, and that he would even back Carl up if Louis asked him about it. "Yeah, and he seems to think we do, too. Especially you."

He could sense that Louis was on the verge of saying no, but with a sigh and shrug of his shoulders, the other man nodded.

"I suppose we could use a short vacation," he said softly, still holding Carl's gaze.

Carl could feel his heart leap at Louis' words; he'd done it, he'd talked his lover into taking a vacation. This had been easier than he'd expected.

Though Louis would probably put up more of a fight as the date approached for them to actually take their vacation, Carl was sure he could counter that. For now, he'd gotten Louis to tentatively agree to taking some time off. That was a good start.

"Then we should talk about where we're going to go to relax for a week," he said, smiling at the other man and feeling grateful that this hadn't been so hard to do.

Now, it only remained to make sure that the vacation actually happened.

***