Chapter 3

Tim smiled to himself as he headed back home with dinner. It was nice to have Tony around again, even if it was only for a few days. He was also happy to have some time off even if it made him a little nervous, as if he was abandoning his team by not being there whenever they were. It didn't matter how many times he told himself that it was nothing of the sort. He couldn't avoid it.

Regardless, he wasn't giving up this chance for a fun road trip. He knew that he needed the vacation, and he thought that Tony did as well. Tony had additional stresses that Tim didn't think he could tolerate.

He pulled up and walked inside, laden with food.

"I'm here!"

"About time, Tim," Tony said, coming out of the spare room. "I'm wasting away."

"Really? I never would have guessed that," Tim said.

"Ouch. You've been practicing."

Tim grinned. "No. I just can't say that kind of thing to my subordinates, so I have to save it up and use it on you."

"You're so kind."

"I know."

Tim laughed as he went into the kitchen and laid out dinner. Delilah came in and took her place at the table as Tony sat down.

"Thai, huh? That's more adventurous than I thought you'd be."

"It's a great little place," Delilah said as Tim got the plates, glasses and utensils out. "Tim found it a couple of months ago. We're still trying new dishes."

"So are you experimenting on me?" Tony asked.

Tim handed him a container.

"If you try this one, then, yes. It's called nam tok mu."

Tony feigned deep fear and opened it.

"Well, that doesn't look too frightening."

"Supposedly, it will keep you from getting cancer and will cure a cough," Tim said.

"Really."

"That's what the guy at the restaurant said."

"In that case, I guess I have to try it."

"Yes, you do."

"So what are you two going to do when you get to Alaska?" Delilah asked.

"Go on a road trip," Tony said, grinning.

"I know that, but what are you going to do?"

"Tony doesn't believe in planning a road trip," Tim said. "It has to be as spontaneous as we can let it be while still having jobs. So we know when we're getting back, but we don't really know what we're going to do while we're there."

"We'll be driving a lot," Tony added.

Delilah looked a little exasperated.

"Are you two teenagers or adults?"

"Adults," Tony said. "We wouldn't be able to rent a car, otherwise. Have to be at least 21, and sometimes, 25. So we've got that."

Tim grinned. He knew that Delilah wasn't too happy about the lack of details. He would plan more if it were him, but he was willing to go along with Tony's desire to be completely free to do anything or nothing.

"How will I know where you are, then?" Delilah asked.

"I'll call you while we're gone. We're not going to be camping out anywhere," Tim said. "We'll always be in a hotel. So I can call you or email."

"You'd better."

"I promise."

They passed around the containers, everyone trying every dish and there was still plenty left over. Delilah declared what was left to be her leftovers, since she wasn't going on vacation, and that Tim was not to touch them before he left. Tim just laughed and solemnly promised.

Then, after they'd cleaned up dinner, Tony claimed that he was too tired to stay up late and he disappeared into the spare room. Delilah went into the office to do some last-minute work before bed.

Tim hesitated, but then, he went into the office. (Tony could take care of himself.) He leaned over and put his arms around her from behind.

"Are you upset?" he asked.

"A little. I don't like the idea of you guys driving around up there with absolutely no plan," Delilah said.

"We're not going to be taking risks, Delilah. These trips aren't for us to do stupid things. It's just to...spend time. I think Tony needs it and I know I've needed it, too. Honestly, sometimes, I think the reason Tony likes going on road trips is because it gives him the time to be able to say what he needs to say...because he can't get away. I have a feeling that he's got something else in mind besides just a trip. Every other trip we've taken has been about that."

"And you?"

"Like everyone keeps telling me, I need the break."

Delilah turned around to look at him.

"I'll trust you, but please, even if it's not every night, call me, okay?"

"I will."

"Good."

Delilah reached up and kissed Tim.

"Now, let me get this work done before it keeps me up all night."

Tim smiled and kissed her back.

"See you in bed."

Then, he headed back to the main bedroom, thinking about how much he was looking forward to this trip.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony pulled back quickly after seeing Tim and Delilah kiss, knowing that they'd look back toward the door at some point. Then, he crept back to the spare room. It wasn't that he'd been intending to eavesdrop. He just had, and he liked seeing Tim being concerned and yet not afraid. He wanted his wife to be happy, but he wasn't just rolling over.

All in all, what he was seeing was a great relationship and knowing that Tim had managed to get this after what he'd been a few years ago was nothing short of satisfying. Especially because he knew he'd had a hand in it.

He got back into his room before he was found out and lay down again. Tim's life seemed to be going really well. He was really glad to see it.

That meant they could just enjoy the trip. He rolled over and went to sleep.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim tried to slide out of bed without disturbing Delilah. Their flight left at 5:45, meaning that they needed to be at the airport by about 4 a.m.

However, as soon as he moved, Delilah reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"Don't be. I just wanted to tell you something."

Tim lay back in bed and faced her.

"What?"

"I love you."

He smiled and kissed her.

"And I love you. Thank you for wanting me to do this."

"Just make sure you don't do anything stupid. I have a vested interest in you coming back."

Tim laughed.

"It's just a road trip. We're not going to invade Russia while we're up there."

"I know. Have fun."

"I will."

Tim got up, showered quickly and grabbed his bag. Tony was sitting out in the living room.

"Ready to go?" he asked

"Absolutely," Tim said, nodding.

They took a taxi to the airport, checked in and were off to Fairbanks, Alaska.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

When they got to Fairbanks, the first thing they did was go to pick up their rental. It was kind of pricy to rent a truck for a week, but it was worth it to be able to have their Alaska road trip. They knew that some of the roads could be dicey, even as they were heading into summer. Better safe than sorry. So they had chosen a truck with four-wheel drive and one that wouldn't likely get high-centered on anything. After that, it was off to the hotel where they'd be staying for the next few days. Yes, it was a road trip, but the nature of Alaska was such that they didn't want to depend on finding a different place to stay. Better to do multiple day trips with a base of operations than go out into the back country where they knew they weren't prepared.

Once they got to the hotel, they lugged their stuff into their room.

Tim lay down on one of the beds and stretched to his fullest extent. Then, he relaxed, still spread-eagled on the bed.

"That feels good," he said. "I hate long flights."

Tony sat down.

"You ready for Alaska?"

Tim sat up and smiled.

"I think so. What do you want to do, tomorrow?"

"Drive north."

Tim pulled out the map of Alaska and started looking at it. "How far north?"

"Well, I don't know. Just north. We're going south to Anchorage after we're done up here, so we don't need to look at anything south."

"Okay," Tim said. "There's supposed to be a place where you can see the Trans-Alaska pipeline. That could be cool."

"Is it north?" Tony asked, with a grin.

"Yes, Mr. I-don't-want-to-plan-anything. It's north."

Tony took the map from Tim.

"This Steese Highway seems to go on for a long time."

"Yeah."

Tony started following it with his finger.

"Hey, it even ends! At a place called Circle."

"Circle?"

"Yeah. It looks like there are some gold rush things to see. That settles it. Tomorrow, we're driving the Steese Highway. We'll get up early, go to Circle and come back. That should be a full day. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me," Tim said. "Maybe it'll take us up to the Arctic Circle."

"Hey! Yeah!" Tony said. "That would so cool."

"Literally," Tim said.

Tony groaned. "Oh, that was bad, McGee."

"Thank you."

"Really, though." He looked at the map. "We're not that far away from it. It doesn't really look like the Steese Highway goes up there, but there's got to be some way. We can ask people when we get to Circle and maybe around here somewhere, too."

"Sounds good."

"For now...I'm hungry. We need to find someplace to get dinner."

Tim found the typical binder of local restaurants and tourist attractions. He started flipping through it.

"Hey, this one sounds interesting. It's called The Cookie Jar."

"Sounds like a dessert place."

Tim pulled out his tablet and did a search.

"Nope. It's a regular restaurant. Looks like it could be good. And it's a local place. Not a chain."

"Okay. I'm game."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

They headed out and had a good meal. It was nothing spectacular, but it was filling and the place was buzzing with activity which made it fun. It was clearly a popular restaurant. Instead of getting any of the other desserts, they both got cookies since that was, apparently, what had got the place started.

After that, they headed back to the hotel and prepared to make an early night of it, especially given the fact that it was hours later in DC, and even more hours later in Bahrain, and they'd been up at the crack of dawn to catch their plane. All in all, it was a good night to go to bed early.

...but first, Tim decided to call Delilah while Tony showered. Tony didn't rush, figuring that Tim would be talking for a while, but when he came out, he saw Tim lying on the bed, phone to his ear, smiling as he chatted with his wife.

He looked over as Tony walked to his bed and sat up.

"Anyway, tomorrow should be really interesting. I'll be sure to take pictures. Love you."

Then, he hung up.

"How much did you tell her?" Tony asked.

"I didn't mention that the Steese Highway is only paved part of the way. She hears highway and thinks a wide, divided, paved road."

"So you lied?"

"No. I just didn't mention it. If she had asked whether or not the highway was paved, I would have told her the truth. I just didn't volunteer the information. We have a good truck for what we're doing. It's not like we rented a sedan."

Tony grinned.

"Sure, sure. I'll remember that."

Tim rolled his eyes a little. "I'm going to shower."

"Feel free."

Tim grabbed his clothes and went in. When the door was closed, Tony walked over to the window and looked out. Really, while it wasn't huge by any means, Fairbanks was a respectable size and you wouldn't realize how close you were to the wilderness. There was something both bracing and a little intimidating about that. As they had flown toward Alaska, Tony had seen more and more just how huge the state was and how much of it wasn't settled at all. All those maps he'd seen in school had been deceiving about the size of Alaska in comparison to the other states.

This was going to be a very different kind of experience, but Tony was all for something different.

Tim came out a few minutes later and they turned out the lights and went to sleep.