This was written for the Barson Vacation Contest on Tumblr, organised by the amazing thebarsondaily!

A/N: Inspired by the song 'Horsehead Bay' by the Mighty Oaks.

I hope you all like it, I'm looking forward to your opinions! :)

Wanderlust

Dark grey clouds were hanging low above the skyscrapers of New York City, pushing the mood of the people living in the city to unknown lows. Nobody could really remember for how long it had been raining, and the wet streets seemed fuller with annoyed people and honking cars than normally.

Olivia found it hard to bring a smile to her lips, even though she was walking down the street hand in hand with Rafael, their umbrellas shielding them from the drizzle. A heavy workload over the last weeks was wearing on their last strength reserves and they used every small moment they could get to spend time together and relax.

Today their schedules allowed a stop for a coffee before they had to get to court, and so they decided on a small cafe close to the courthouse. After receiving their coffees they just sat in silence for a long moment, holding hands on the table while watching how the rain hit the window. Rafael was the first to break the comfortable silence, his thumb running gently over the back of her hand as he said: "This is one of the months where I feel like packing my bags and fleeing from the city for a week. Hop in the car and drive somewhere where it's not that full and hectic."

"Somewhere where you can just be," Liv mumbled, their gazes meeting over the table, and Rafael nodded with a tired expression. "That sounds wonderful."

He took a sip of his coffee and stared at the droplets of water running down the glass of the window for a moment, then his green eyes suddenly started to gleam.

"We should just do it. Take a vacation, grab Noah and leave."

Olivia gave him a sceptic look while pulling her phone out of her pocket. Checking the message Fin had sent, she said: "Unfortunately, it's not that easy. We can't just go on a vacation from one day to the other." Her tone carried a tiny bit of regret, and Rafael squeezed her hand with small smirk on his lips.

"Give me a few days, mi amor."

OoO

Olivia had no idea how Rafael had managed it, how many favours he'd called in and if some subtle blackmail had been involved, but three days later, he walked into her office with a bright grin. She thought that he was trying to make fun of her when he announced that he'd managed to get them a one and a half week long vacation. However, when she checked her emails at his insistence, she saw Chief Dodds' affirmation of her vacation request and Rafael's grin widened even more. "I told you to give me a few days."

It had something liberating to leave the city; as soon as they'd left New York behind, both Olivia and Rafael felt like they could breathe more freely, as if a weight had been lifted off them. They only had a vague destination, as they didn't want to travel with a strict plan, and it was wonderfully different from their normal vacations.

Noah was incredibly excited, looking forward to their little adventure, but fell asleep in the backseat rather quickly, as there wasn't much to see on the highway.

The weather was still the same, the clouds keeping the sunlight away, so it felt like evening, and at some point it started to rain, but they didn't care. On the left and right side of the highway the horizon seemed endless, and the fields were a great change in comparison to the sky-high buildings in the city. Music was playing on the radio, Noah snored softly from time to time, they had coffee and snacks and combined with the relatively empty highway it made the drive one of the most relaxing activities they'd done in a good month.

OoO

She didn't know for how long she'd been napping, but it surely must have been more than an hour, as they weren't on the highway anymore. It was a smaller street, leading through a forest, and the sky above them seemed less dark.

While Olivia rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she smiled about Noah and Rafael discussing about who was the better Avenger, Iron Man or Captain America. Their arguments were fun and involved snacks and the superhero costumes, so she leaned back and listened to them for some time until she felt Rafael's hand on her thigh. She turned her head and they looked at each other for a moment, tender smiles on their faces, then Noah piped up, declaring that he was hungry.

Olivia squeezed Rafael's hand while he chuckled. "Okay, mijo, we'll stop at the diner whose sign we saw earlier."

About half an hour later they were sitting in front of fries, burgers and milkshakes, and while Noah tried not to smear too much ketchup over his face he swore that those were the best fries he'd ever eaten. After lunch they went for a walk through the forest, feeling the need to stretch their legs after the long drive, and Noah always ran ahead a bit, discovering all kinds of things he found great. Olivia wasn't too happy that he collected some of those, including snails and a branch that was almost taller than the boy, but she let him have his fun after Rafael said that Noah would soon get tired of carrying the branch around. Inhaling the damp air and smelling the earthy scent of the forest was a new kind of freedom.

OoO

Noah was pressing his little nose against the window of the car as they drove along the bay. The street was empty, and so Olivia slowed down until they reached a spot where they could park without a problem. Rafael and her exchanged a smile as Noah pulled on his jacket and wool hat faster than ever before, and they'd barely slipped into their own jackets when Noah was whining for them to hurry up.

It was a cool day for spring and the wind made them shiver a bit, but they didn't care as they walked down a little path that led to the water. Rafael was holding Noah's hand to keep him from falling, mostly because the little boy was too preoccupied with staring at the sight in front of him to watch where he was placing his feet.

Seagulls were gliding through the air, surfing on the wind that blew from the ocean. The pebbles of the beach crunched under their feet and when the waves of the ocean rolled over them.

A little bit of snow was lying on the hills on the far side of the bay, blending the landscape perfectly into the sky; light grey clouds were hanging low over the dark blue water, but a bit of blue sky was peeking out here and there.

Rafael let go of Noah's hand and slung his arms around Olivia, pulling her against his side and pecking a kiss on her lips. She smiled, laying her head on his shoulder as they inhaled the fresh, slightly salty air and watched how Noah opened his arms and giggled when a stronger flurry blew into his face.

It was so wonderfully silent in comparison to the city; the sound of the waves and the wind and the cries of the seagulls were like the melody of freedom. And Olivia asked herself how they managed to live with the blaring sirens and the honking cars every day. The life in the city was fast and hectic, but here, everything seemed to slow down.

A tension neither of them had been aware of was leaving them with every breath they took, and they both closed their eyes as they held each other close. After a few minutes, Noah joined them and Rafael lifted him so he could be part of their hug. In this moment they both knew what was the most important thing in their life.

Not the job, or making their living.

It was the love of their family, nothing more, nothing less.

They found a nice little pension only a few miles from the bay; it was located on a hill and they had a wonderful view over the water from their room. For a whole week their phones were only used to snap pictures during their walks along the beach or hikes through the mountains, and one day, they even went on a little canoe tour with Mrs and Mr Parker, the elderly couple that owned the pension. And while the wind blew into their backs and raindrops ran down their weather jackets, Rafael asked himself if the location influenced how people perceived weather. Here the rain didn't bother them, it seemed to belong; in New York, though, it felt out of place.

Their evenings were spent in front of the fireplace in their room, cuddled together under quilts while they played card games and Noah tried to convince Olivia and Rafael that he'd seen fairies on their hike through the hills close to their pension.

It was easy to forget about their everyday lives while surrounded by nature, not having any deadlines, and packing their bags to drive back to New York was harder than they'd anticipated.

But at least they drove off with a lot of beautiful memories and renewed energy, ready to tackle the harsh reality of their work.

And maybe they would find their way back to this peaceful place one day.

THE END