A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed! I'm really excited about writing the chapter after this one! As always, I hope you guys enjoy :)

Warrick awoke that morning only to be blinded by a single ray of light shining in through the blinds near the window in the bedroom. Squinting, Warrick looked down at Sara who didn't seem to be awake yet, and he smiled when he remembered he had fallen asleep with his arms linked around her waist. Contemplating moving or not for fear of waking her, Warrick made his decision when the annoying ray of light shined in his eyes once again.

Slowly scooting his body closer to the edge of the bed, Warrick slowly removed his arms from around her waist, thinking he was home-free until he felt Sara's hands wrap around his own, stilling them from movement. "You better not be thinking about moving," Sara mumbled.

Warrick chuckled. "I was just going to shut the blinds. The light's blinding me," he explained, removing his arms and getting to his feet, raising his arms above his head to stretch.

Sara smiled, slowly sitting up and keeping the sheets wrapped around her. "Well, I suppose you could do that."

"Yeah, thanks," Warrick said quickly shutting the blinds and walking back around to the other end of the bed. Crawling back under the covers, he leaned against the headboard and held his arms open to Sara. "You were saying?" he asked with a grin.

Sara smiled and crawled into his lap. His arms quickly re-attached themselves around her waist and he rested his head against hers, leaning forward and kissing the back of her head. Slowly his mouth moved down to her neck and Sara giggled. "Cut it out, Warrick, that tickles," she told him.

"Oh it does, does it…?" Warrick mumbled.

"Yes it does," Sara smiled.

"Is that a bad thing…?" Warrick asked, gently nibbling on her earlobe.

Sara was about to speak but instead let out a low moan. "You're a jerk, you know that, right…?" she mumbled.

"But a loveable jerk," Warrick said with a grin.

"I am so going to get back at you…" Sara mumbled, closing her eyes at the sensation of Warrick's warm mouth on her skin.

"You are…?" Warrick whispered into her ear, letting his warm breath tickle her neck.

"Y-Yes I am," Sara whispered, feeling a shiver run up her spine.

"How…?" Warrick whispered, a teasing hand slowly sliding up her arm.

"…Why would I tell you? I want to surprise you," Sara managed to get out as her body threatened to start trembling violently. Oh, I WILL get you back, Warrick Brown!

Warrick just smiled as his hand slid up to her collarbones and paused suddenly. Sara whimpered, wanting desperately for him to move his hand once again, and let out a small sigh of relief when she noticed his other hand beginning to move. "Hey Sara…" Warrick mumbled.

"What…?" Sara whispered.

"I've got your nose," he whispered into her ear. Before Sara could even begin to wonder by he would say such a thing, Warrick's other hand lightly grabbed onto her nose and he moved it away, keeping his hand in a fist. With a chuckle Warrick slid out from underneath Sara, leaping off the bed and running out of the room.

"You did not!" Sara yelled, unable to hide the uncontrollable smile that found its way onto her face. "That was just plain cruel, Warrick Brown!" she called after him, getting out of bed to chase after him. That proved to be a mistake. The second Sara moved her foot she felt a stinging sensation coming from the bottom of her foot that traveled up through her legs. Wincing, she slowly sunk to the floor against the foot of the bed, sitting on the floor wrapped in the bed sheets.

"Hey, you don't want your nose?" Warrick teased, poking his back in the room when he realized that she hadn't chased after him. Looking at her sunken to the floor with her feet bottom-side-up, he quickly mentally slapped himself in the face. He had forgotten all about her feet. "Damn it, I'm sorry, Sara," he told her, walking over to her and kneeling down beside her. "I forgot all about your feet," he explained, slowly picking one of her feet up for inspection. "Here, you, uh… can have your nose back," he said with a small smile.

Sara just laughed, snatching back her invisible nose from Warrick's fist. "So what's the verdict?" she asked him, noticing him studying her feet like a piece of evidence.

"Well… all the glass looks to be out," he told her. "So that's good. But you've still got a lot of cuts and scrapes that, uh… I don't believe we got to bandage last night," he grinned.

"No, I think we were a little preoccupied," Sara returned the grin, wincing when he brushed his fingers against a particularly sensitive cut in the middle of her foot.

"Sorry," Warrick apologized. "Let me go get the first-aid kit from the living room and I'll bandage these up for you," he told her, getting to his feet and walking out of the room. Heading down the hallway, Warrick couldn't help but smile as he noticed all the pictures hanging on the walls were perfectly straight and each the same distance away from each other as the last. When he arrived in the living room Warrick kneeled down and gathered up the first-aid kit, making a quick stop in the kitchen to grab a small bowl and fill it with water.

When Warrick walked into the hallway to head back to Sara with everything he needed, including a washcloth he took from the hallway closet, he couldn't help but stop for a minute when he noticed that Sara had started humming. She was humming the song she had sang at the club the night before, which reminded Warrick that he needed to do something about that bastard of a piano player. But… as much as Warrick wanted to smash the guy's head in, at the moment all he could think of was Sara.

He never thought that he would end up really being in a steady relationship with Sara, because when she first came to Vegas, truth be told Warrick didn't think Sara was the type of person he would get along with. And… she wasn't going to be coming in on the best circumstances, either, Warrick thought. She was going to have to investigate him in the murder of one of their CSIs, so that had sort of automatically put Sara on the list of his least favorite people then. But now Warrick realized that labeling her the second she came to Vegas was one of the dumbest things he had ever done, because Sara had to be the best thing that had ever happened to him.

And with that thought in mind, all Warrick wanted to do now was wrap her in his arms and never let go.

Ever.

He wasn't going to lose her, and he wasn't going to let anything or anyone hurt her or take her away from him.

Immediately dropping everything in his arms, including the (luckily plastic) bowl of water he had gotten, Warrick rushed into the bedroom, feeling tears stinging at his eyes.

"Warrick…?" Sara asked as she immediately stopped humming, her eyes widening when she took in his appearance. "Warrick, what's wrong…?" she whispered. "Are you okay?"

Warrick bent down and scooped Sara up into his arms, wrapping one arm tightly around her back and the other securely around her waist. Sitting down in the same spot she had, he cradled her in his lap, burying his face against her head.

"Warrick…" Sara whispered, slowly turning her head to look over at him. Steady streaks of tears were running down his face as he took a deep breath, his face still buried in her hair.

Warrick slowly shook his head, holding Sara even tighter for fear that she would leave him. Taking another deep breath, he relaxed considerably once he recognized her scent. Slowly he loosened his arms around her, but kept her sitting in his lap.

"Warrick, I'm right here…" Sara whispered, brushing away the tears that were running down his cheeks with her thumbs. "I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere, ever…" she told him, resting her head against his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I promise…"

"I don't want to ever lose you," Warrick whispered. "And I swear I'll kill anyone that ever hurts you. No, I won't even let them come near you," he amended. "And that piano player… is going to regret the day he ever set eyes on you."

Sara couldn't help but smile just a little, "My knight in shining armor."

Warrick looked up at her, laughing a little as he dried his eyes. "Well, you happen to be a damsel in distress," he told her. "I don't want to let go of you… but I suppose I should bandage up your feet and clean up the mess I made in the hallway, huh?" he asked with a smile.

Sara put a hand to her chin, tilting her head in thought. "There is one other option…" she mused.

"Oh?" Warrick asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Onward!" Sara laughed as Warrick carried her into the kitchen on his back.

"Hey, I'm going as fast as I can," Warrick grinned. "Keep your arms around me or you'll fall and that's the last thing we want to have happen."

"Yes, Sir," Sara said firmly, wrapping both her arms and legs around him.

Warrick just laughed as he filled up the same bowl with more water. "Okay, so now I think we can go fix your feet," he smiled as he carried her toward the bedroom.

"Whoopee!" Sara said with a giggle, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Warrick just started laughing. "You're cheerful today," he told her, walking into the bedroom and gently setting her down on the bed. "Your laugh is cute," he smiled, tapping her nose with his index finger.

Sara felt her cheeks flush, turning a light shade of red.

Warrick laughed again, sitting down across from her on the bed. "Yup, definitely cute," he told her, setting the first-aid kit down in his lap. "Alright… so rubbing alcohol…" Sara cringed, "Gauzes… cotton balls and water to help take the sting away," he said, putting everything down on the bed in separate piles. Looking up at Sara, he smiled apologetically. "I know, it doesn't sound like fun," he told her. "But it'll be over soon," he assured her.

"And then you're giving me a backrub," Sara mumbled, laying down and lifting one of her feet into his lap.

Warrick laughed. "I don't remember that being part of the deal."

"It is now," Sara smiled.

Warrick pouted and then started laughing when Sara shot him a puppy-dog-eye look. "Alright, deal," he smiled, dabbing one of the cotton balls in the bottle of rubbing alcohol. "And I'm going to be looking forward to that foot rub you're going to give me afterwards."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "Not gonna happen, Brown."

Warrick laughed. "Alright, alright, fair enough," he told her. "Okay, this is going to sting," he told her, motioning to the cotton ball in his hand. Putting his free hand on her leg, he gently brushed his thumb against her skin as he began to dab her cuts with the alcohol. Sara let out a hiss of pain, shutting her eyes tightly and gritting her teeth, willing her body to stay still. "Hey…" Warrick whispered. "Shh… its okay, you're doing well," he encouraged her.

Once the cut was clean, Warrick took the washcloth he had gotten from the closet and soaked it in the bowl of ice cold water he had filled from the kitchen to help soothe the pain if not even numb it a little bit. "Okay, now this is going to be cold," he told Sara as another warning, gently pressing the cloth against her foot.

Sara sighed, her body relaxing as the pain began to go away. "That feels good…"

"I'm glad," Warrick smiled. "I'll bandage your feet once all the cuts are cleaned, and then I'll give you your backrub, and then you can give me my foot rub…" he laughed when Sara threw him a look. "And then…" he trailed off.

"And then…?" Sara prompted.

Warrick bit his lip, trying to figure out how he was going to say this. "Sara… I… really want to go deal with that piano player. I don't want you ever near him or that place again."

Sara frowned, looking over at him as he dabbed her foot with more rubbing alcohol, the pain seemingly disappearing. "Warrick… I have to go back. I can't just quit this job."

"Why not, Sara?" Warrick asked, not quite understanding what she was saying. She had just been molested by the man, possibly even more than once as far as Warrick knew, and now she was going to go back to the same place it had all happened and possibly have it happen again…?

"…It's my diversion," Sara finally said.

Warrick stopped in mid-rub on her foot, looking up at her with a confused look. "'Diversion'…?"

Sara just nodded, sighing as she closed her eyes. "The case that Nick, Grissom and I were working- you know the one with Jane…" Sara slowly shook her head, "Pam," she corrected herself. "Pamela Adler?"

"Yeah, I heard about that," Warrick nodded, "Sounded like a tough case. But you caught the guy, didn't you?"

"But that's just it, Warrick," Sara said, shaking her head. "He's going to be out of juvie in 48 months, she's brain-dead, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"…Sara, you did your job," Warrick told her. "It's not your job to take people out of vegetative states…" he trained to explain.

Sara just sighed, slowly sitting up and leaning against the headboard. "I know, and… I'm sorry. See? This is exactly what I mean…" she mumbled.

"About what…?" Warrick questioned.

"…I was looking through the missing-persons database to try and ID her," Sara told him, "The kid's DNA was in CODIS, and we had no other way of identifying the victim. Grissom came in, and… he told me that I needed to get a diversion."

"I don't… understand," Warrick said.

"He told me that I can't get too close to the victims," Sara explained, "And he told me that if I don't get a diversion, I'll burn out because I won't be able to continue coping with the things we see everyday…" Sara whispered. "Warrick, I can't let that happen, I just can't burn out. This job… is going to be hard to find anywhere else again," she explained. "It's the only thing I have to get away from work…" she said.

Warrick nodded slowly, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. Gris… why did you say that? You know that Sara's work is everything to her…

"That is except for you of course," Sara said, shooting him a small smile.

"But I may be working when you're off," Warrick frowned. And then it dawned on him- her partner was a piano player. It wasn't like he had never played the piano before! Now he was mentally thanking his grandmother for forcing him to piano lessons when he was kid. "Say, Sara…"

"Huh…?" Sara asked.

"Your partner is a piano player," he told her, "And I happen to know how to play the piano…"

Sara's face slowly brightened. "So you could… be my partner?"

"Exactly," Warrick smiled, "All you have to do is pick a song and I'll play right along to it. It'll be good for both of us." And I'll kill that man if he says otherwise.

Sara let out a squeal of glee as she jumped toward Warrick on the bed, wrapping her arms tightly around his mid-section. Warrick just laughed as he slowly lifted Sara up, setting her down in his lap. "Thanks, Warrick," Sara smiled. I wouldn't like anything more than that.

"No problem, Sara," Warrick smiled. "Now how about I finish bandaging up your feet and then we can pick a song?"

"Don't forget about my backrub," Sara reminded him, lying back down on the bed.

"…And my foot rub," Warrick said, laughing as Sara threw a pillow at him.