Disclaimer: Deus Ex: Human Revolution belongs to Eidos and so on. In other words, I won't be waking up to an Adam Jensen lounging in my living room any time soon.

"We should take a vacation."

Her eyes stay on the ceiling that she's tipped her head back to look at. Right now it's 11:37pm in Sarif Industry's main building, and both pilot and security chief are sitting in chairs adjacent to each other, their feet propped up on the table in front of them. Sarif is taking his time getting down to the helipad tonight.

"The word 'we' implies we'd both be going," she says at length.

"And?"

Faridah opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out except a soft sigh. It's been a while since she took one, or even thought of the word "vacation". Vacations were good things for families or couples who had the time, and seeing as they are neither of these things and have almost not time to spare, it's a rather silly suggestion. It's also a ludicrous one because there's a lot of rebuilding to do. One year since Panchaea hasn't made anything easier, and not just in terms of the company.

...

"Okay."

Over the weekend he drops by her apartment and with their combined effort they cover her kitchen's bar counter and the dining room table with travel brochures and datapads flickering with pictures of sunny beaches and people in swimwear. She keeps thinking to herself over and over that this is crazy. But it's been a while since she did something crazy that didn't put her life in jeopardy. And besides, didn't people always say that the privilege of being an adult was getting to do whatever you wanted? Screw the rules. She needed a bit of crazy.

Their plans slowly grind to a frustrating halt when they realize they're missing something rather important: money. Time is of no consequence because neither of them ever take time off and have racked up a good amount of off-hours. But money was something both of them didn't have overflowing from their pockets.

They narrow down the travel plans down to relatively local places, a few other cities and some cheap flights overseas that can take them away for a day tops. After narrowing it down further when taking into account renting a car because neither have one, gas cost, money for food because they'll both need it, and money just in case they decide to stay somewhere overnight or in case of emergencies, they have two options left.

Adam holds in his hands two travel brochures like he's deciding on the fate of the world, and she looks on. One is splattered with various pictures of citizens, some trees, a few sculptures, and a city vista with the word CHICAGO in huge bold print on the top. The other is red with a picture of an ornate building erected long before they were born that says CHINA on it.

He looks at it if only to be polite for her sake, but she's not one to judge. He mutters a soft 'no' and she echoes his word quickly behind him.

They go to Chicago.

It's cold this time of year, but they've beaten the snow for the day. They walk around and see all the sights, stand on the corner holding a map upside down like a pair of stupid tourists and pointing in various directions, visit as many of the neighborhoods as they can (he concedes to visiting Chinatown) and they stay out until sunrise for no reason. He keeps his augmentations hidden under ridiculous piles of winter clothing, but she understands and doesn't ask.

They freeze as they observe the sunrise in one of the parks from a bench just as cold as the air, quite sure they are the only ones up in the city besides those who manage to city's services and the homeless.

"This was a good vacation," she murmurs, digging her hands into her pockets for warmth, her body trembling with the cold and the promise of another day started afresh.

"Yeah..."

She doesn't look at him directly, but just then, she thinks that maybe that was a small smile on his face.

Mission vacation accomplished.

A/N: I'm not sure where this came from, but it stems from my thoughts on how the characters would begin to try moving back toward normalcy after Panchaea, and how they might do it if they managed to do it side by side. I'll likely come back to this and lengthen it if I find it necessary.

Personally I have a thing for Malik/Jensen, but I also realize that it's not everyone's thing. I'm pretty sure you can take this fic either way, but if it leans more toward the shippy side then you know why.

On a last note and just so nothing is left to contingency, Adam's reluctance to get involved with all things China-related is the result of the journey down the rabbit hole-esque experiences that escalated to nearly ridiculous proportions while he was there, and not from any particular hatred on his part (or mine).

That being said, I hope you've enjoyed reading!