Chapter 1

Anna watched as the bride and groom danced their first song and questioned why she was even here. She hadn't wanted to come, hadn't wanted yet another reminder that she was 30 years old and still wasn't married, had never really been close if she was honest with herself. Still Mary was a close friend from college and she had not been able to come up with a good excuse for why she couldn't come. She was in between shows so she had the free time, and no one would believe that the idea of a week on a tropical island wasn't the definition of a great time. She had to admit that the island was beautiful, but it wasn't any fun to be the only single woman among all of Mary's friends. She sighed and headed for the open bar. She could at least enjoy the free-flowing tropical concoctions.

John stood at the bar watching the festivities. It was these types of events that made him wish he still drank. Instead he was nursing a club soda and bored out of his mind. He hated weddings. In his opinion nothing good came out of marriage, and he ought to know considering he had been married for twenty-five years. Even if he hadn't seen Vera in ten years and had no idea where she was, he was still legally married. He supposed he could have tried to find her and get a proper divorce but since he didn't have any intention of getting married again, he figured why bother? John watched as one of the guests headed towards the bar. He forced a smile to his face as the woman approached the bar. As she grew closer the smile became less forced. She was gorgeous. She was in a long flowing pink dress and her long blond hair was flowing over her shoulders. When she got to the bar he could see her eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. John shook his head. He knew better than to check out the guests. Besides the last thing he wanted was an entanglement, even if she was gorgeous. He lifted an eyebrow and spoke.

"Evening what can I get you?"

"Something blue with an umbrella, and make it strong."

John sighed. He had no idea how to make these tropical concoctions people kept asking for. When he had agreed to help with the bartending he had specified that he would handle the straight forward drinks. Sam had agreed, but of course no one could know that Sam's wife would go into labor three weeks early and now John was forced to wing his way through bartending 101.

John shrugged his shoulders apologetically. "I will try my best, but I am afraid these fruity drinks aren't my strong suit. The tropical drink expert is with his wife as she gives birth."

Anna smiled. "Okay then, how about rum and coke?"

John smiled. "Now that I can do."

Anna watched as he made the drink. He was handsome, she had to admit. He was tall, at least 6'1 and solidly built. He had dark thick hair and his eyes appeared green but she wasn't quite sure. He was dressed casually in khakis and a green button down shirt.

"So you aren't the regular bartender?"

John shook his head. "I'm not even a bartender. I agreed to help out a friend, but as I mentioned, his wife is having a baby and I am stuck trying to figure out what the hell a bahama mama is."

Anna laughed. "What do you do on the island?"

"I give airplane tours of the neighboring islands. I'm scheduled to take some from your group out tomorrow."

Anna nodded. "I think Mary mentioned something about that. Although I don't know how many of them will be awake at 9am to take the tour."

"It's okay. My schedule is cleared all week for the wedding, as a favor for the father of the bride."

Anna's eyes widened in surprise. "You know the Crawleys?"

John nodded, "I was in Desert Storm with Robert. We go back a long way. I couldn't say no when he asked if I would be willing to keep my week free for tours while the wedding party was here."

"That was very nice of you. My name is Anna by the way. Anna Smith." She reached out her hand.

John reached out to shake it, and grasped her small hand in his big one. "John Bates. It's nice to meet you."

John released her hand and placed her drink on napkin. "One rum and coke. So tell me Anna Smith, what do you do?"

"I host a couple of cooking shows on the Food Channel. 'From Mundane to Marvelous' and "Decadent Dinners for Dollars'"

John shook his head, "Sorry, my idea of cooking is heating up left over chinese."

Anna smiled as she took a sip. "That's okay. So tell me about this tour. In case I decide to take it in the morning."

"Well it's a 3-hour tour." He held up his hand as Anna opened her mouth. "No Gilligan jokes please, and we tour some of the uninhabited islands. I give a very animated and interesting speech about the local history. All in all I would say it is a very enjoyable time." He smiled and Anna felt a little breathless. She couldn't help but notice how his eyes crinkled in the corners when he smiled. How that smile made his whole face light up. She shook her head. She must have had too much to drink. She picked up her rum and coke and turned to go, but turned to look over her shoulder.

"I may just see you in the morning then, Mr. Bates." John started to tell her to call him John, but had to admit he liked the way Mr. Bates rolled off her tongue. Instead he offered her another smile.

"I will look forward to it then." He watched as she walked away, her hips swishing in the flowing dress. He felt his heart beat a little faster as he watched her. He shook his head. He wasn't going to go down that road. He didn't have room in his life for romance. He turned as another customer approached and he spent the rest of the night filling drinks for the wedding guests. It was only after he was cleaning up that he realized he hadn't seen Anna again. He had to admit he felt a little disappointed.

Anna winced at the brightness of the sun. She didn't think she had had that much to drink, but the slight headache and sensitivity to the sun's rays made her realize she had imbibed more than she had originally thought. She hadn't gone back to the bar, but the champagne had been flowing steady at the tables and Anna had indulged in a few glasses. She may have woken up with a slight hangover, but she had no intention of not going on the tour. She had to admit that John Bates intrigued her. He was different the men she usually met. For one thing he was older, at least 15 years if she had to take a guess and he had a real man's body which Anna had to admit was a nice change from the overly chiseled spray tanned men that she usually met. Plus she thought that the island and surrounding area was beautiful and she really was curious to see more. She walked up to the tour hut and noticed a small plane on a runway. Anna frowned. It looked awfully small. Anna normally didn't have a fear of flying, but she felt a bit nervous looking at the small plane. She noticed a man fiddling with something on the front and smiled when she saw it was John. He looked up as though he sensed her staring at him. He wiped his hands on a towel and headed her way.

"Miss Smith, I see you decided to join the tour." John had to admit he was happy to see Anna here. He had been thinking about her since last night. He couldn't deny it even though he tried too. There was just something about her that fascinated him.

"Please call me Anna and I am afraid I am the only one. The rest of the gang are a little under the weather." John laughed as Anna used air quotes for the last part of her sentence. He felt a stirring of excitement at the thought of spending the next three hours alone with this beautiful blonde who had captivated him without even trying.

"Well then why don't we get started? Are you ready?"

Anna hesitated. "It seems awfully small."

"Not really. It seats 8, plus the pilot seats. It's in top shape. I have it inspected every month. I promise you nothing will go wrong."

Anna took a deep breath. The thought of getting to know John better overtook her fear of the plane and while she wasn't quite sure why, being with him made her feel safe. As if nothing would harm her as long as he was next to her. She wasn't sure what was happening here, but she was here for a few more days and what harm could there be in having a little fun? She nodded. "Okay let's go then."

She followed John to the plane, taking his hand as she walked up the steps. John spoke up. "Normally the customers sit in the back, but if you want you can sit next to me, and see how I fly this girl."

Anna nodded. "I'd like that." She followed him into the cockpit and sat in the seat he indicated. He showed her how to buckle in before sitting in the pilot's seat. He strapped in and checked all the gauges and did a quick radio test. He started up the engine and the plane roared to life. John fiddled with some more buttons and before Anna knew it they were cruising down the runway and a few moments later they were up in the air.

Anna looked around as the plane gained altitude. It really was beautiful up here. She looked at John as he handed her a set of headphones with a microphone attached and when he indicated he wanted her to put them on she did as asked. She smiled as she heard his voice. He smiled as he began to talk about the islands that were laid out below her.

They had been flying for about two hours when John asked if she wanted to take a little side tour. She looked confused so he explained that there were several islands that were unknown to most everyone except the locals but he thought she would enjoy them. She nodded. If it met prolonging the time she got to spend with him, she was all for it. John smiled and made a slight turn. They had been flying for a few minute and Anna felt herself relaxing, the plane almost lulling her to sleep. She closed her eyes only to open them suddenly when she felt the plane jerk. She looked at John, who was frowning at the control panel.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

John didn't answer her; instead he was hitting and flicking several different switches. Anna tried not to panic. He reached for the radio.

"Mayday. Mayday. This is P9567B, can you read me?" He frowned as all he received was static. He tried again with the same result. He looked at Anna. "I don't want you to panic but we seem to have lost oil pressure and the engine has stopped running."

Anna looked at him with fear in her eyes. "How can you tell me that and tell me not to panic?" Her heart started to race as John reached over and tightened her seat belt. He then tightened his and looked out the plane's windshield. He appeared to be looking for something.

"I am going to land us on the beach over here." Anna looked out and frowned. "You are going to what? You are going to intentionally crash the plane?"

John wasn't focused on her anymore. He held the wheel hard in his hands as the ground got nearer and nearer. Anna started praying and as the sand grew closer she heard a scream. She realized it was her as the plane hit the ground with a thud. The plane made a sickening crunching sound as it hit the ground and Anna threw out her hands as the windshield crunched. She felt a stinging sensation on her forehead and her hand came away with blood after touching it. She looked across at John who was thankfully conscious although he had a nasty bump on his head. They both noticed the smell of smoke at the same time and John immediately began to unhook himself before getting up to help Anna with her belts. They both pulled off their headphones and with hands locked together then wrenched open the door and ran out of the plane. A loud explosion rocked the ground and they were both lifted in the air.

John braced himself for the impact but the breath was still knocked out of him. It was a few moments before he could move and as he did his eyes searched for Anna. He saw her lying a few yards from him face down. His heart filled with dread. He quickly ran over to her and turned her over, sighing in relief to see her eyes open. She took a couple of deep breaths and reached out as John grabbed her hand to lift her up.

"Are you okay?" Anna nodded as she rubbed her hands over her body taking stock of any pain.

"I think so. You?"

John nodded. "I had the wind knocked out of me and my head is killing me, but I'm okay. You have some nasty cuts on her face though. "

Anna remembered the stinging sensation. "The windshield shattered. I'm okay though." She began to look around. They were on a small beach. "Where are we?"

John frowned as he looked around. "I think it's one of the smaller islands, I believe it's uninhabited."

They both felt the isolation as they looked towards the ocean which seemed to surround them for miles.

Anna glanced at John and offered a weak smile "So much for the promise that nothing would go wrong."

John looked down at Anna and offered her a small smile.

He shrugged, trying for humor. "Alone at last?"

I hope it isn't too out there. There are some great modern AU Anna/Bates stories and I wanted to try and do something that hadn't been done before. Two movies I really like are Father Goose and Six Days Seven Nights. Both involve a man and a woman forced to work together and live together on deserted islands in trying circumstances. I don't know anything about flying planes so I apologize if it wasn't technically accurate. Please feel free to leave a review, they are always appreciated.