Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Author's Notes: Mayor fluff warning! Hope you like it! Thanks for reading!

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'Aeroport Tozeur Nefta' was spelled out in big white letters atop the building the pulled up to.

Kate couldn't help but notice as she stepped out of the taxi cab that the Tozeur-Nefta International Airport was clearly on the smaller side of airports she'd seen, but it was probably one of the prettiest ones too. Kate looked up into the sky which was as blue as James's eyes, and there wasn't a cloud in sight.

The driver unloaded their luggage and smiled rather pleased when James paid for the fare and gave him a rather large tip for his prompt and uneventful service.

James picked up both suitcases and headed towards the entrance doors. Kate had already given up on arguing with him. She felt very much capable of pulling her own luggage around, but this fight had already started when they were departing the hotel, and she'd finally conceded and let him do it.

There were still some aspects of the male psyche that she would probably never understand, especially Jamess. He could be honeymoon sweet one moment and then turn into a complete brute the very next. And right now, he seemed to be a mixture of both, but in the most annoying way possible.

She caught up with him just as he reached the doors, "That was quiet the tip you gave back there."

He nodded, "Yeah, since it ain't my own money that I'm tippin' with, thought what the hell."

"Yeah." She agreed, "I guess."

The line to check in wasn't very long, and they found themselves with plenty of time to look through the little gift-shop.

They didn't really speak, and were rather cautious to not draw unwanted attention to themselves, but suddenly Kate turned towards him, a little tourist information pamphlet in hand and said, "They have a zoo here, in the desert, where they have a tame lion and you can actually pet him." Her eyes were shining with intrigue.

"Too bad we missed that." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

She couldn't believe he'd just dismissed what she'd said with his sarcastic remark. "Come on, even you have to admit that's kinda cool."

He stepped a little closer, giving the pamphlet she held the once-over and said, "I don't want you lugging her own suitcase and you wanna go cuddle with a lion?"

"He's tame."

"Yeah, right." He actually rolled his eyes at her for once, "He'd get one whiff of you and pounce, and he'd hit the check pot – two for the price of one."

"That's just gross." She gave him the evil eye.

"Exactly my point, mothers to be shouldn't be hanging around lions, tame or otherwise."

She folded the pamphlet back up and replaced it, "I'm just saying, it's too bad we didn't get to do any sightseeing."

The sad tone in her voice drew his attention back to her, "You're serious?"

She just nodded and left the little shop, James followed her quietly, and when they found themselves far enough away from listening ears she said, "It would've been nice to be normal for a bit, just a plain American couple on vacation, instead of two outlaws on the run."

"We ain't outlaws no more, and we ain't on the run either." He pointed out after looking over his shoulder to make sure nobody could listen in on them.

"Yeah." She sighed again, but it was clear that she didn't share his thoughts on the matter.

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Kate tried her best to seem at ease, but her nerves were getting the best of her as everyone was settling into their seats on the small aircraft. James stowed away their backpacks in the overhead compartment and settled down in the seat beside her.

She looked out the window, watching airport personal as they scurried away from the tarmac, and her stomach twisted in knots once again.

James leaned over her to see what she was looking at, "That tame lion out there havin' lunch?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I wish." She muttered, thinking that a lion on the ground would probably postpone if not altogether cancel this flight.

"You alright?" He asked, eyeing her concerned, "You took your drops this morning? You're not getting sick, are you?"

She turned her head and met his eyes concerned, then she eyed the other passengers before she leaned in closer to him and whispered, "You and I … well, we don't really have a good track records what flights are concerned."

A frown crossed his face now too as he glanced around for unwanted ears, before turning his attention back to her, "We'll be alright, don't you worry about that."

"How can you be so sure?"

He reached for her hand, as the plane began slowly rolling backwards away from the terminal, the flight attendant stood at the front of the plane explaining the emergency manual, he whispered, "The island ain't done with us yet, baby. I promise you we'll be okay. Now buckle up."

It was just minutes later when the plane started racing down the runway, ready to take off when James cupped her cheek and pulled her in for a kiss. A long slow, lip nibbling, tongue twisting, wishing-we-were-alone kind of kiss, and by the time he finally let up and they both came up for air, the plane was in the air and on course.

"Clever." She sighed, glancing sideways at him, realizing he'd simply tried to distract her.

"Thought you might like it." He grinned. He tugged at her scarf, "Think you can lose that thing now."

She nodded and removed the scarf, and ran a hand through her fake red hair.

"Looking good, Red." He smirked at her.

She smiled back, "I just wish we both were home already."

"Me too."

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"We'll probably never fly again, this was our last and only chance." He said to her disappointed as he walked out of the building, keys to their rental car in hand.

She rolled her eyes at the fact that he still was complaining about her refusal, "It was a small plane, James, with just one bathroom."

"So?" He said, giving her a I-don't-get-it look as he loaded the two suitcases into the trunk of the four door sedan.

"So." She repeated, "Both of us going into that small bathroom together … everyone would've known what we were doing."

"We're married." He answered, as he stepped to the side now and actually opened the car door for her.

"You always say that as if it's like a get-out-of-jail-free-card." She gave him an incredulous look now as she got into the car.

He closed her door and stepped around the vehicle, quickly getting in himself to continue this conversation, "Well, it sort of is."

"Hate to burst your bubble, cowboy, but we still have to abide by the law, even when we married."

He rolled his eyes at her comment, "Pretty damn sure that it only says not to smoke in there, everything else is fair game."

Realizing she wasn't going to win this argument she finally just caved, knowing there wasn't really any point to keep this discussion up, "You're right."

"I'll be damn, did you just say what I think you said." He offered her a smug grin as he glanced over at her. He then started the car, setting the build in gps to navigate him to the international airport in Paris.

"I'm sorry we missed our chance to be in the mile high club, now can we stop arguing about it?"

He put the car in gear and began to exit the rental car parking lot, "Sure can, since you asked so nicely, girl."

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It turned out that the international airport was literally on the other side of Paris, even further outside the city then the airport they had just arrived in. According to the GPS it should only take them 35 minutes to arrive, however the current traffic situation proved otherwise.

As they merged yet again onto another overpass, he noted Kate's eyes following a sign that read 'La Tour Eiffel' alongside a small picture sign resembling the Eiffel tower.

"When's your flight again?" He asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over them since the bad traffic had started.

"Not 'till later tonight."

"What time do you have to check in?"

"Six." She answered, looking over at him and noticing his forehead crunched up as if he was in deep thought. He was silent.

The mood had somehow turned gloomy with the knowledge that they'd have to separate once again in a couple of hours, but thus far both tried to put on their brave face, but the look on his face had her wondering what he was thinking now.

In an attempt to break the silence again, Kate spoke up, "So, where will you get a new gun?"

James caught off guard by her question glanced over at her before returning his attention back to the road, "What?"

"A gun? Since we had to leave the guns behind in Tunisia, where are you going to get a new gun?" She asked.

"Richard." He simply stated, but then elaborated before she could ask, "He set it up, so that there would be one in my hotel room in Germany, taped to the underside of one of the dresser drawers."

Kate nodded in acknowledgement, but had secretly hoped he'd say that he wouldn't need another gun from here on out.

In the distance they saw another sign for the Eiffel tower approach, and just when the GPS spoke up with its heavy British accent urging him to merge left, he set his turn signal and merged right into the exit lane.

Kate saw this and spoke up, "What are you doing?"

"Takin' a little detour." He grinned, "You hungry?"

"I'm starving." She turned her head, looking back as they took the exit, "I figured we'd eat at the airport."

"I figured we could eat near the Eiffel Tower." He tried to keep a straight face, but all hope was lost when she smiled at him her biggest smile.

"Really?" She asked.

"It's noon now, you gotta check in about six, and we're right outside Paris. So why the hell not?"

Their joy was short lived when the closer they got to the city, the traffic had gotten even worse. When he saw a sign for a Parking garage, he took that exit once again and drove into the underground facility.

They parked and since Paris was a lot colder then Tunisia had been this time of year, they both decided to change. While James quickly changed into a clean white button down shirt in the front seat, he couldn't take his eyes off of her in the rearview mirror, watching rather mesmerized as Kate struggled to change in the small space the back seat of their rental car provided.

"Need some help back there?" He tried not to chuckle as he watched how she struggled to pull up a pair of thick black pantyhose while she was lying down, arching her backside up and off the seat in order to get the hosiery all the way up to her waist.

She caught his eyes in the rearview mirror and gave him her infamous eye-roll that he'd gotten so accustomed to before she answered him, "You wish."

He turned his full attention to her now as he turned in the front seat, watching as she pulled on a pair of grey boots and zipped them up.

"Ready to roll?" He asked.

"Yes." She answered as she grabbed a black Jacket to wear over her knee length dress she was wearing.

He got out of the car and quickly opened the car door for her, holding out his hand for her to assist as she climbed out.

As they walked hand in hand out of the parking garage, Kate smiled at him like it was Christmas morning, "I can't believe we're really doing this."

He tugged on her hand and led the way, "The guy down there said if we go down this road right here, then we just have to follow the signs to get to the Metro."

"Metro?"

"It's like a subway."

So they walked hand in hand, like a tourist couple on their honeymoon. People were everywhere, and the sidewalk was narrow. The streets were littered with trash, and there was a smell of fish so potent it could make your stomach curl, but none of that seemed to matter to them as they enjoyed just doing something normal for the first time in a very long time. Especially since in L.A. they were always hunted by paparazzi, so walking down a street hand in hand had never been a normal thing for them since the beginning of their relationship off the island.

They sure made a sight, Kate thought to herself as she caught their reflection in a display window outside of a small store.

Him so tall and broad, wearing jeans, a white long sleeve shirt with his sleeves rolled up enough to expose his freshly tattooed forearms. His hair was tied back but hidden under a black baseball hat that had a replica of the Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey label across the front, his long stubble could almost be called a beard now, and still he looked incredibly handsome.

And she felt almost strange in the clothes she was wearing, however the goal was to not look like herself and deflect from the fact that despite the red hair and brown eyes, her face still looked like that of Kate Ford. So the clothes she'd found in that suitcase were, in Kate's own words, unpractical and nothing she'd normally wear while she was trying to not gain unwanted attention.

So she'd fished out a grey dress and pantyhose, which seemed stylish yet comfortable enough, out of her suitcase. But still, she couldn't help but smile at his and her reflection in the store window, because judging by her clothing, it just seemed like she was a different person altogether.

However it helped to know that James clearly loved her outfit. He kept on eyeing her like a starving man would look at a big fat juicy steak and he seemed unable to keep his hand off of her today.

After finding the Metro station, thankful for the helpful lady behind the little information booth they were now standing inside the moving Metro cart, with Jamess arms curled around her waist pulling her back against him, as with every stop people came and left.

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Their stop had finally come and after a long flight of stairs they finally made it to the surface again, finding themselves standing right in front of an impressive museum building, but from where they stood the Eiffel Tower was nowhere to be seen.

While Kate unfolded the little map she'd acquired in the metro station, James looked around and actually walked a few feet to see around the building.

"According to this map it should be right around here." She explained just when James called out for her, "Ahhm, Freckles."

She looked up and saw him grinning and nodding his head to his right, so Kate folded the map up and walked towards him.

"Wow." She said coming up next to him.

It was a bit off in the distance, probably another ten to fifteen minute walk to actually reach it, but it was the perfect view from where they stood.

He reached for her hand and pulled her along, "Come on girl. We're gonna go check this thing out."

They past the museum hand in hand, smiling like some love drunk teenagers as they walked across the huge platform.

There where people everywhere, some taking pictures, some just sitting and enjoying the sunny day. Others were gathered around street dancers performing right there, and even James and Kate stopped for a moment to watch.

Over all it seemed almost too perfect to be true, when James got his smart phone out and asked an elderly gentleman to take a picture of Kate and him with the Eiffel tower as the backdrop.

They walked the short distance through a park, then crossed the seine via a bridge and waiting patiently along twenty other pedestrians for the light to turn green, they crossed the street and were literally standing underneath the Eiffel Tower.

They were still in awe looking up towards the tower, but their joy was short-lived when they saw the endless line to get actually up on the tower itself.

"Come on." James demanded as he pulled her along to get in line.

"It's okay." Kate said, trying her best to not sound disappointed. "We don't have enough time, James."

James was still determinedly walking towards the end of the line with Kate in tow, "Who knows, maybe it won't take as long as it looks."

"Right." She said sarcastically as they came to a stop and claimed their spot at the very end of the line.

Kate started looking around, squinting her eyes, but before James could ask what she was looking for she spoke up, "Have you seen a bathroom?"

He turned and scanned around himself, "Can't say that I have."

"Well." She said, "I really have to go, you hold our spot here and I'll be right back."

As soon as she was out of earshot, he dug out his phone and dialed the only number – beside Kate's – that was saved under his contacts.

"Richard?" He asked after the phone was answered.

"James." Richard answered him in greeting. "What-"

James cut him off since he was pressed for time, "Listen, Kate and I need to get up on the Eiffel Tower, but there's a long ass line and she's got that flight to catch in a few hours."

There was silence on the other end for a beat or two and James said, "Richie, you still there?"

Finally Richard answered, "Yes, I'm still here. But I'm a little confused what the Eiffel tower has to do with your assignment."

"It ain't got nothin' to do with nothin'." James answered annoyed, "But …" he paused again and looked around to see if Kate was nearby, "… haven't you ever done somethin', just to make your woman happy?"

There was silence once again for a moment, and James held his breath, hoping that this time the silence was in his favor.

Then suddenly came Richard's answer, "I'll see what I can do." Click.

James looked around again for Kate but she was still nowhere to be seen.

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Her smile was contagious, James thought as he watched her take in the view from the very top of the Eiffel tower.

"I still can't believe we're really here."

"Oh believe it Freckles." He pinched her, "You ain't dreamin'."

"It's scary how high it is." She said with astonishment in her voice, completely ignoring his pinch.

"Says the girl who jumped off a cliff with a fresh bullet hole in her shoulder!" He retorted with a snort.

She looked back at him over her shoulder, rolling her eyes, but James just grinned.

Her dress was blowing in the wind, flying up every which way, but James' hands quickly helped her smooth the fabric back down, as he stepped up behind her and then wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hungry?" He whispered in her ear, before he nuzzled her neck and kissed it.

She leaned back into him, her hands resting on top of his and she nodded. "I'm starving."

"Good, 'cause we've got reservations at the restaurant on the first floor."

She turned all the way around and looked up at him, "We do? Which one?"

Reluctantly he let go of her to dig his phone out of his jean pocket, pushing at the touch screen as his eyes squinted at the small writing, "It's called 58 Tour Eiffel."

She smiled up at him once again, urging him on, "Let's go then."

Tugging his phone away again he turned his full attention back to her, "Hold on a tick."

And before she could utter a response his hands were framing her face and he pulled her into a slow and drawn out passionate kiss.

The kiss let up and Kate slowly opened her eyes, looking up at him and blinked a few times as she almost tumbled backwards, instantly gripping his jacket to shake off the dizzy spell that had suddenly overtaken her.

James tried not to laugh at her reaction to the kiss, as he quickly moved his hands from her face to her shoulders in order to steady her and pulled her into him. "You alright there, Freckles?" He asked unable to hide his amusement in his tone of voice.

She closed her eyes as she leaned against him, still holding the fabric of his jacket in a death grip and slowly nodding against his chest before she answered, "Yeah, I … I think this high altitude is getting to me."

"Right, the altitude." He drawled as he smirked down at her small form, completely wrapping her in his arms, "And here I thought my kiss was sweepin' ya' off your feet."

A smile spread over her already rosy cheeks when she glanced up and batted her eyelashes like a shy schoolgirl at him, "Well, that might have had something to do with it too."

He snaked an arm around her waist as he ushered her back to the elevator smiling and drawling, "Your kisses ain't too shabby either, honey, but one of us gotta stay level headed this high up."

While they stood there arm in arm waiting for the elevator Kate turned to him, "James?"

"Yeah?" he asked glancing down at her.

"Nobody has …" she paused as her voice rose to a high pitch and threatened to break, her chin began to quiver and tears welled up in her eyes."Nobody has ever done something … something like this for me."

He smiled and rubbed her tears away with his thumb, "Well, Richy-Rich's the one who made it happen, Freckles, can't take credit for any of it."

"No." she retorted quickly, "He might've made it possible, but it was your idea not his." She leaned up on her tiptoes with one cold hand cupping his cheek when she kissed him.

"Thank you." She said misty eyed.

"You're welcome, babe." The elevator opened and after everyone had exited and they scurried inside into the corner, pulling her into his arms once again he added, "Least I can scratch kissin' the love of my life on the Eiffel Tower off of my bucket list."

She smirked now and her dimples protruded more than his when she repeated, "Love of your life?"

"Yup." He casually nodded out of the elevator to an elderly grey haired woman in a trench coat, "Kissed her when you weren't lookin'."

Kate smiled, playfully nudging him with her elbow and pretending to be mad, but he raised his hands in surrender while he was laughing out loud, "Alright, alright … no need to get violent. I swear she didn't mean nothin' to me."

She pretended to pout for a moment and he pulled her back against him just as the elevator was closing, his lips gracing her ear when he whispered, "You're it!"

She stood completely still as the elevator began to move, enjoying the feel of his breath on her neck before she whispered her demand without so much as turning her head, "Say it again."

A beat or two passed and the elevator was just coming to a stop when he leaned in to her once more and whispered, "The love of my life." He paused and then exhaled in her ear, "You're it, Freckles."

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End Notes: Please leave a comment or a review if you got a minute to spare. Thank you!