Tony slid onto his chair in the hotel dining room with a sheepish look on his face. 'Hey Mom, Papa,' he greeted.

His mother pulled him into her arms and kissed him. 'Did you have a good flight, sweetheart?'

'Yeah,' he mumbled, watching his father's knowing grin from the corner of his eyes. He squirmed in his mother's embrace, disentangling himself. Dammit Papa, don't look at me like that! She's my WIFE! 'I'll get some coffee,' he said, his face burning. He took his cup and Michelle's and headed over to the buffet. A rich aroma of coffee met his nostrils as he poured the dark liquid into their cups. Smells okay.

'Sorry, Tony,' his father apologized, pouring himself a second cup. 'I didn't mean to embarrass you. No guy with nine children has the right to tease anyone. Why don't you try some of that tropical fruit? Some of it is quite good.' He laid a star fruit onto his plate. 'That one's actually got a little taste. Forget those,' he advised, pointing to another orange fruit that looked as though it had been squashed.

'Yeah,' he agreed, repelled by its appearance. He piled his plate with toast, eggs and tomatoes and returned to fill Michelle's plate. 'You guys got any plans for today?'

They all spoke at once and he struggled to comprehend them. There was something about crocodiles from Michelle, tropical flowers in some botanical garden from his mother and miles of pristine beaches from his father. 'So what are we doin' first?' he inquired casually, listening to the ensuing argument whilst he finished his breakfast. In the end they resolved to make a quick tour of the botanical garden first before joining the river cruise in the afternoon. Tony nodded, repressing a sigh at the thought of the botanical garden, the one option he would cheerfully have left till last.

Michelle held his hand dragging him round the exhibits, exclaiming enthusiastically while he did his best to nod. 'Aha,' he muttered for the hundredth time as she waved her hand at yet another flowering tree.

'Eucalyptus ficifolia, Tony.'

'Aha,' he repeated, wiping the sweat from his brow. Beside him his mother pulled out her camera for what he would have sworn was the fiftieth photo.

'Tony, stand beside Michelle. Not there honey, I need to see the flowers too. Smile,' she told him sternly and he smiled wearily. Where did Papa disappear to? He must've grown sick of his role as photographer! Once he was released he told them he'd find his father and watched them walk ahead, stopping to examine the next flower. He backtracked, searching the garden till he reached a secluded corner. Mr. Almeida sat on a bench beside a pond watching a group of tropical fish swim around. Tony gave him a sympathetic nod and settled beside him.

'They nearly done?' his father inquired casually.

'Don't think so,' he admitted. 'We got another hour yet before we need to get lunch and I can't see them leaving till then.' He fell silent as an unknown bird sang above them.

'Are we facing much threat from friendly nations' terrorists?' his father inquired. 'Was the conference worth it?'

He nodded. 'It certainly gave me lots to think about. As long as I got their names we'll keep tabs on them as we do on our own suspects and it'll be ok. It was pretty intense all presented at once.' He shut his eyes taking a few minutes to rest. 'The Spanish delegate wanted me to repeat the lecture in Madrid,' he told his father, allowing himself to fall asleep in the shade. All too soon Michelle shook him awake.

'Tony, it's time for the crocodile cruise. Get up,' she instructed and he obeyed, eating a quick lunch in the cafeteria before driving to join the boat cruise. The trip proved a lot more entertaining that the visit to the garden. They settled in a large boat under an awning sweltering in the heat. The inside of the cabin was air-conditioned but surrounded with bullet proof glass. Idly he wondered why the thick glass, surely the air conditioning didn't require it?

'G'day,' began a heavily accented Australian voice and a man wearing a tropical jungle suit with a bush hat stood up. Tony watched the dozens of bits of cork swinging from it in silent amazement. 'Now I hope you folks all followed the pamphlet's advice and put on PLENTY of insect repellent. Who's seen the movie Crocodile Dundee?'

Every hand went up. There were another group of Americans at the back drinking bottled water and trying not to look too hot, and a busload of Japanese tourists with their obligation cameras round their necks.

'Great. Just as long as you folks remember it was JUST a movie! You can't outrun crocs, or wring their necks! We're gonna see some large bastards today. River is infested with em. Don't even try putting your hands over the edge, crocs can jump and they will. Once we get into some wetlands I'll stop the boat and throw some chicken overboard and they'll come real close. You can take all the pictures you want then. Any questions?'

'Yes, how many people do they kill annually?' asked a sweating Japanese.

Tony rolled his eyes in exasperation, waving another couple of flies off his face. 'They don't kill anyone!'

'The last tourist to get killed was an American,' the tour guide said, an eye on him. Beside him Michelle gave a startled gasp. 'Two young ladies, similar to your age madam,' he gave her a cheery smile, 'decided to go swimming in some billabong despite their guide's warning. Only one made it out.'

Michelle's eyes widened and his mother moved nervously on his other side, twirling her wedding ring round her finger. 'So we'll wait till we get back to the beach before we go swimming,' he told them, settling more comfortably into his seat. It would be an entertaining trip, he could tell. If only there weren't so many flies. Where do they all come from?

The boat started off and he opened his backpack, handing Michelle a banana. They ate together taking it in turns to peer into the murky water. 'I don't see anything. They must live further,' Michelle said with a sigh.

'Whole river's infested,' the guide told her. 'Look, there's a bastard right there, behind that bush.' He pointed and they strained their eyes.

'Oh my God, it's' huge,' she cried excitedly. 'Are there any others?'

'Where there's one, there's more,' the guide told her, apparently singling her out for special attention. 'Come here,' he said, taking her hand and pulling her to the front. 'There's one swimming over there, you can see its nose.'

Tony threw a disgruntled look at his parents as the guide chatted to Michelle while he steered the boat. 'She's MY wife,' he muttered in mock annoyance.

'She's the only beautiful young woman on the tour,' his father said amused. 'Guy's not totally mad, Tony.'

'Gracias, Marco,' his mother said, turning to stare over the edge of the boat. Tony used all his training to fight back his laugh.

'Sweetheart, that's not how I meant it,' his father assured her, taking her hand. 'I only meant…'

'I know what you meant, Marco. I'm getting old now.'

'No mom, he meant that the guide knows he'd be thrown overboard if he so much as gave you a second look,' Tony told her, 'whilst he can see I'm a wimp.'

'Exactly,' his father agreed, taking her hand. 'Sweetheart, you're even more beautiful than when we first met.'

Tony peered over the edge of the boat while they reminisced. He'd heard them discussing their first meeting dozens of times before but he never grew tired of the story. Michelle appeared to have forgotten about him temporarily as she perched on the bows of the boat admiring ever large crocodiles. Presently the boat stopped and the guide called them together.

'At this stage of the tour I throw a few old chicken heads to attract the crocs,' he explained. 'I want you all to stand back and whatever else you do, don't approach the crocs.' He threw several heads into the river and they heard some splashing sounds as crocs sunbathing he hadn't even noticed slid into the water. One piece was held up and they watched a large crocodile leap out of the river. Michelle gasped and pressed closer against him. He slid his arm about her, glad to have her back.

'There's a massive one on the other side of the boat,' she said, taking his arm. 'It's not getting fed. Come see, Tony.'

They peered over the opposite side together, Tony eyeing a mean eyed monster. 'Wonder how far this one could jump,' he mused, opening his backpack. 'I got a ham sandwich left. You're right; it shouldn't miss lunch just for being on the wrong side of the boat! Stand back, Michelle.'

She threw him an excited nervous look, urging him on but begging him to exercise caution, her gaze reminding him of his younger sister when he had prepared for one of his pranks. She stood well back as he leaned over and held the sandwich in the air. For the slightest moment time stood still while he held the crocodile's eyes, before something in them warned him to drop the sandwich. He stepped back and they watched as the largest beast in the river leapt straight towards them. Michelle shuddered in his arms as its head cleared the rails and despite knowing it could not climb onto the boat he felt a shiver down his own spine.

'Antonio, what are you doing?' his mother gasped in Spanish, her face horrified. For the briefest moment he worried she would slap him in front of Michelle, but she settled on taking him by the shoulder and pushing him ahead of her to the back of the boat, telling him what she thought of his actions in no uncertain terms.

'I'm sorry mom,' he apologized. 'I haven't got anything else, you don't need to worry.'

Hours later as they sat alone on a golden beach admiring the brief twilight they were still in fits of laughter. 'You know Tony, I thought she'd smack you,' Michelle told him, cuddling up to him, chilled from their long swim.

'Now honey, you surely can't imagine she'd do anything like that?' he asked, wrapping a towel round her. 'I'm an adult, I'm the director of CTU…I was lucky you were around,' he admitted. 'Come on Michelle, I was just trying to show you I can do exactly the same as that loud mouthed tour guide,' he sighed, watching her face change from amusement to bewilderment.

'Tony, you don't ever have to get my attention by impressing me, you do know that, don't you? You're the bravest man I've ever met, I love you.'

'You haven't met terribly many men sweetheart,' he whispered delighted. She just called you brave, Almeida, and you haven't even told her about that time you were captured with your platoon. He attempted to push the thought from his mind as the familiar sick feeling rose in his stomach. It's classified for a reason. Repeating that tale would kill you. "We're surrounded sir. We're not gonna make it out." "Take the men Koskinen, I'll provide a little distraction!" "I'll do that sir." He had glared at the equally obstinate sergeant. "You're hit, that arm needs treatment. Take the men and get the hell outa here, that's an order." Steady grey eyes met his own. "You're not gonna make it out, sir." He had sighed. "I know that. Dammit, get moving. This is MY responsibility, I should have seen this!" He had been captured and stripped and hung by his arms and they'd started asking him questions…Tony pressed a hand over his mouth and rose, shaking slightly despite the heat.

'Tony,' she asked worried about his grey pallor. 'What's wrong?'

He shook his head, managing to mutter something about being fine before walking back into the ocean. Will you just forget about it, Almeida! All those men who heard you scream and cry are dead, and you didn't tell them anything!

'TONY!' Michelle called, and getting no response threw her towel on the sand and rushed after him. 'Wait up.' He managed to pull himself together by the time she reached him and even conjured a smile. 'What's wrong?' she pressed, searching his face.

'Nothing honey, I just figured it would make sense having a final swim before we go back for dinner,' he lied, swimming under the water and pulling her after him. She dunked him after she came up for breath and they splashed each other, Michelle giggling like a schoolgirl as he chased her with a piece of rotting seaweed.

'Don't you throw that at me, Tony! Tony, no, stop,' she shrieked as he threw the bunch a couple of inches from her. 'Just you wait, this is payback time. I'm gonna…' She paused, her hand inches from the rotting mess.

'You were saying, honey?' he pressed, curious to see whether she would bring herself to touch it.

'I'll think of something else,' she assured him. 'Tony, your parents will be expecting us for dinner. We got to get changed now.' They collected their towels and beach bags. 'I really love the tropics,' she sighed. 'The weather's great!'

He nodded in agreement. 'Yeah. What do you hate most, sweetheart? Somewhere cold?'

She gave a firm nod. 'Cold flat land with nothing to see. If the place is cold, it should at least have mountains!'

Tony shrugged, taking her bag from her hand. 'Mountains would make it even colder, I guess,' he told her. 'Come on, I'm getting hungry.' They parted ways, moving into their respective change rooms to shower and dress. As usual he was ready long before Michelle. He settled on a bench and amused himself watching the tranquil ocean while he waited.

'Hey sweetheart, were you waiting long?' she inquired cheerfully.

Tony shrugged. 'I just got here,' he told her tongue in cheek, grinning as she swatted his shoulder.

Tony's parents smiled knowingly as they entered the restaurant hand in hand. 'Have fun at the beach?' his father inquired raising his eyebrows.

Michelle blushed to the roots of her hair. 'I couldn't drag him away without a last swim,' she explained, sliding into her seat. 'Did we keep you waiting long?'

'Only half an hour,' said Tony's father cheerfully. He appeared a lot more relaxed than usual on this vacation and he grinned at her warmly. 'We've already ordered dinner, for you two as well. Now what are we doing tomorrow, as it's our last day here?'

'We'll spend it on the beach,' Tony said firmly, eyeing them all in turn to dare anyone to object. 'There are still plenty of beaches we haven't seen yet. I'd like to visit them all tomorrow!'

'Sure honey,' his mother agreed, stroking his hand with a finger.

'We can try,' his father agreed doubtfully. 'Of course it might be rather hard to drive round the entire continent in one day, but I'll wake you up early!'

Tony rolled his eyes, while Michelle giggled. 'You had that coming,' she told him, laughing at his expression. 'And we're going to celebrate our anniversary tomorrow night.'

They spoke of the special dinner they would have, Michelle and his mother having booked a table at the most romantic restaurant in town. Tony watched her shining eyes and squeezed her hands, his heart threatening to burst. You're real lucky, Almeida. You'll never know what she sees in you. Just be thankful she loves you so much. Feeling her hand return his squeeze he knew he would love her as long as he lived and would protect her with his life if necessary.

Chase folded his arms and studied his boss in silence, wondering when he would look up from the folder he appeared engrossed in. 'Chase?'

'Yeah Jack, I'm here,' he said, patiently.

'You don't seem to be doing too much right now. Take some of these and deal with them, would you?' He nodded his head at the mountain of folders on the floor.

Chase stared at him in surprise. 'I don't have the necessary security clearance for all of them,' he reminded Jack, reluctant to be burdened with such a task.

'You do now,' Jack assured him. 'I've given you a Level 4 clearance for the day. Get on with it; I got Mr. Chappelle breathing down my neck.'

'Aren't some of these Tony's?' Chase grumbled. 'When's he back, anyway?'

'They're mostly Tony's, and there's no way in hell he'd have a chance of completing them all when he gets back,' Jack explained, strangely reluctant to burden his partner, who was bound to be exhausted from his flight, with such a horrendous task. 'We're gonna clear some for him. He's back on Tuesday.' They exchanged relieved looks and Jack bent down, lifting as many folders as fit into his arms, dumping them into Chase's hands. 'Get started.'

The last day of their vacation was the best. They spent it driving along the coast examining ever more enchanting coastlines. He felt mild regret when they turned back to enable them to prepare for the evening. Tony showered first and dressed while Michelle washed her hair, needing a few minutes undisturbed. He peered into the bathroom noting her busy with the shampoo and knelt on the ground beside the suitcase, hunting through it to locate a small velvet box that he bought for her in Melbourne. A sixth sense warned him of her presence before her shadow fell across him and he pushed it deep under his clothes. 'Michelle, you're peeking!'

She gave him a guilty look.

'Now get back in that shower before I lose your present,' he ordered in his best official voice, fighting to keep his amusement concealed.

'I'm on my way,' she assured him, darting back to the bathroom. Tony folded his arms and watched her return to the shower before he pulled the box out and slid it inside his pocket.

Michelle and his mother had chosen well. The restaurant was as romantic as any he had been to in LA, dimly lit with a candle illuminating each individual table. Tony pulled her chair out and she settled beside him while his parents settled opposite. 'So it's been a year already,' his father remarked, shaking his head slightly. 'And Michelle hasn't run for her life! This calls for a toast. May the two of you be as happy together as we are,' he reached for his wife's hand, 'and don't neglect the part of "multiply and fill every corner of the earth." We're waiting for more grandchildren!'

Tony blushed and grinned at the same time. 'We'll get there, Papa.' He sipped his own wine and turned to Michelle, taking her hand in his. 'I loved you from the moment I first set eyes on you, Michelle. For the first time in my life I showed up at work early, just to be able to watch you hurrying in and get to pass you a hot coffee. Never in my wildest dreams did I dare hope you would return my feelings. Guess I was a little hopeless back then. There's no way I'd ever have dared ask you out and face your rejection and lose the best friendship I ever had. Thank you for taking the first step.' He drew her towards him and kissed her deeply. 'When you married me, you made me the luckiest man in the world.' He pulled the box from his pocket. 'This is for you sweetheart.'

Michelle opened the box eagerly while he watched her, noting his mother wipe a tear from the corner of her eye. She pulled out the necklace he had chosen for her so carefully, admiring a simple chain filled with tiny circular balls. 'Tony, it's lovely,' she whispered, the breath catching in her throat. 'It must have cost a fortune.'

'If anyone deserves it, it's you,' he assured her, helping her put it on. 'It's to remind you of our first year together and our first vacation.' He took her hand gently in his own, oblivious to anyone but her. 'The first of many,' he promised. 'We'll explore every corner of the globe together; go on dozens of boat cruises…'

Everyone laughed. 'It's been rather hot today,' Michelle said in a worried tone, placing a hand on his forehead. 'You sound sick!'

Tony grinned at her. 'I'm fine. I'm just promising I'll be a better husband from now on.'

'You're already great, sweetheart,' she assured him. 'Just stay the way you are.' Her arms wrapped round his neck, pulling him close for a kiss. Tony reached forward to wrap his arms round her and placed his lips on hers.

'I love you, sweetheart. Happy anniversary.'