Title: Time Away
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Carl Hickman/Louis Daniel
Fandom: Crossing Lines
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 466
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.

***

Now this was what he called paradise.

Carl lay back under the beach umbrella with a soft sigh, feeling happy and contented. He'd actually managed to talk Louis into taking a vacation.

Being here in the South of France wasn't as far away as he would have liked to get, but it was all he'd been able to talk Louis into. He himself had wanted to go to some tropical island, like Fiji, for a week, but Louis had insisted that he wanted to come here.

He had to wonder if this place held some memories for his lover that Louis didn't want to talk about, but now wasn't the time to ask.

No, this was a time to relax and enjoy being with Louis.

And it was a time to stop stressing, and enjoy the time that they had away from work, Carl told himself firmly. He wasn't going to think about their problems.

He wasn't going to think about any cases, or about Genovese, or anything else that they'd faced in the time that they'd been working together in the ICC. He was simply going to revel in the fact that they were here, away from all of the usual stress.

The only problem with that was that he was sure Louis had brought that stress along with him. Even in paradise, Louis would worry, and think about work.

Louis just wasn't the kind of man who would find it easy to put his work behind him, even when he was supposed to be on a vacation, Carl thought with a sigh.

But at least he had managed to get his lover here, away from the office, and into a relaxed atmosphere. Carl looked over at Louis, lying on the beach towel by his side, his hands behind his head and his eyes closed, looking the picture of relaxation.

But Carl knew better. Even here in paradise, his lover wasn't completely relaxed. Chances were that Louis was thinking about one of their cases.

He would simply have to accept that side of his lover's personality.

He was in love with a workaholic, Carl thought with an affectionate smile. But then again, so was Louis. He himself was just as dedicated to his work.

It was one of the things that made him love Louis so much, he told himself, that dedication, that passion for justice. Without it, then Louis wouldn't be the man who he had fallen so completely in love with -- and he wouldn't change his lover in any way.

So he would take things as they were, and enjoy their time away from work in paradise, Carl told himself as he closed his eyes and stretched out on the beach chair.

He hoped that Louis was feeling exactly the same way.

***