They drove all the way to Las Vegas. It took them almost a full day, and by the time they checked in Caesar's Palace, both James and Kate were ready to pass out. And that is exactly what they did.

About five hours later, James woke up. His body was tangled in the sheets, Kate's head resting right on his shoulder. His yawned and then blinked a couple of times, trying to get used to the sunlight that was coming into their room through the large bay window. James stretched his arms; Kate's head then fell gently onto the pillow underneath her.

He got up, scratching his bare chest. James walked over to they bay window, his boxers sticking to his sweaty legs. Glancing out the window, he stared down at the busy Strip. Yawning once more, James closed the curtains so Kate wouldn't wake up and then he headed into the bathroom, turning on the shower.

James was in the shower for less than five minutes before he was clean. He got out, wrapped a towel around his waist, and then walked back into the bedroom where Kate was still sleeping.

Dropping the towel at the edge of the bed, James climbed under the covers and cuddled up next to Kate. He wrapped his arms around her waist and then nuzzled her neck gently.

Kate stirred and then rolled over, facing James. "Mmm," she murmured, a smile forming on her face.

"Good morning, beautiful," James whispered, kissing her lips gently.

She kissed him back, cuddling even closer to him. "Good morning, handsome," she replied, burying her head in his chest.

He stroked her hair, staring up at the ceiling. "What's on the agenda today, Freckles?" he asked.

She sighed and yawned, rolling onto her back and away from James. "I just want a massage. Then we should probably get driving again. I don't want to rob Las Vegas. Too risky," Kate replied, moving onto her side, her head propped up on her hand.

James nodded. "That sounds like a good plan to me. Maybe we can head back east then," he replied, pushing his hair back.

Kate smiled, watching him. "God, I love you."

James returned the smile. "I love you too."

They spent the next month and a half driving cross-country. In that time they went to Phoenix (where they spent a couple of day because, after all, it was where they got married), Denver, Kansas City, and then Chicago. In the month and a half they managed to rob seven banks and get about $250,000. They weren't going lightly anymore. They were trying to get as many big banks in the cities as possible. Bigger bank meant more money. And more money made for a happy Kate.

They made it to Chicago in the middle of spring. It was finally getting warm out, so they spent a couple of days seeing the sights. It was James' turn to think of a plan again, so after the couple of days of sight seeing, he stayed in the hotel and devised a plan.

This was going to be the last stint too. He made Kate promise him that. James was tired of driving around the country; they had been driving around the country and robbing banks for almost a year. Nine months. Nine months since they were fired from the carnival and got married. It had been a year since James came home from the Army and met Kate. She was 23 now and he was 25. James was ready to try and settle down.

So James planned harder than he had planned before. This was the big one. They were going to get a million bucks off of this one. He was certain of it. Everything was meticulously planned. James got a job at the bank for Kate and himself. He scoped out all of the safety deposit boxes, all of the alarms…everything. It took them about two months to plan everything.

James was going to have Kate drive him to the bank on their payday. She was going to stay parked outside the bank, keeping an eye out for any cops while James would go in and pick up their paychecks. While in the back with the manager, he would pull his gun out and ask for the keys to the safety deposit boxes. Everything would go smoothly. They would have a million bucks and they would be able to retire.

Except everything didn't go smoothly.

Payday came. Kate drove James to the bank and he got out of the car while she waited. He walked inside, the gun hidden inside his coat pocket. James greeted his coworkers, going into the back to get the paychecks. As soon as he pulled the gun though and demanded for the safety deposit box keys, somebody shot from the lobby. The bullet ricocheted through the glass in the back office and James spun around to see who shot at him.

It was Kate.

"Freckles, what the hell do you think you are doing?" he snapped, bending down and grabbing the keys from the manager, who was laying on the ground after hearing the shots.

"Cops. We're surrounded. Someone tipped them off. I shot to get your attention. I'm sorry," she said nervously, looking around the lobby as she ran over to James.

"Who the fuck…?" James said, turning to look at the other employees. And then he saw him. He was a young guy. Fit, tall, with brown hair. Some scruff, but not much. If James remembered correctly, his name was Boone. "Sonofabitch."

James started towards the boxes and said, "Freckles, keep an eye on him. And if he tries to run…shoot."

Kate nodded and then headed closer to Boone, the gun aiming right at his chest. "You heard him," she said, a slight shake in her voice. "If you move, I shoot."

James kept an eye on the manager as he emptied all of the boxes into their bag. It was more than a million. Even though the cops were surrounding them, they had all the time in the world. And as James was filling the backpack, he realized that in his plan he fucked up. He forgot that the tellers had the emergency buttons under their desks. He wasn't hired as a teller so he overlooked that.

Shaking his head to himself he zipped the backpack and threw it over his shoulder. "C'mon, Freckles!" he yelled, turning to her.

James threw the keys to the manager before running to Kate, grabbing her hand, and leading her out the back way. There was one cop car, much to his surprise. James ducked as the cop shot at them and kept running.

Kate, who had stumbled, shot back.

"Freckles, no! Don't shoot! Just run. We don't hurt them, remember?" James yelled, doubling back to help Kate up and lead her to the closest car that they could find.

They hopped in the unlocked car (thank God for their luck) and James was able to hotwire it before speeding off.

They dodged a couple of the cop cars, but luckily the police did not have their descriptions yet and their car was parked out front.

"We should be okay for now. They don't know what care we are in and we got away from that one cop…why the fuck did you shoot at him?"

"I was scared. I didn't want to be shot at," she said, breathing heavily.

James groaned. "But we said we would never shoot," he said. Then James shook his head. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter. As long ad you didn't hit him we are good. We're done. This was it. We got more than a million bucks. We're set to settle down."

Kate nodded and grabbed his hand. "This is exactly what I have been waiting for," she said, smiling over at him.

James looked at her and smiled back, squeezing her hand gently. "It's time to start our lives."