A/N: Thank you all so much again for being so patient with updates :) This chapter is more light-hearted but Warrick and Sara can't seem to get a break, can they? This chapter may remind you of the beginning of chapter seven—I sort of liked the whole déjà vu effect :)

He had taken her out to the shops near the Strip—the most expensive shops he knew of in Vegas. He gave her his credit card and told her to pick out the most beautiful most extravagant dress she could possibly find. He told her not to worry about money as much as she protested. He booked the best suite he could find in the Palermo. He wanted this night to be absolutely perfect. She deserved only the best.

It had been about four months now since the incident with Trey had occurred and Sara was finally able to sleep at night. Brass was still working around the clock, checking for any signs of him in the area but so far nothing had come up. It was almost as if Trey had vanished into thin air. As much as Warrick wanted to kill the son of a bitch he was relieved that he was nowhere near Sara. She had been through enough as it was.

He stared at himself in the mirror and fixed his tie, smoothing down the sides of his tuxedo with his hands. He tried not to smile at the small black box sitting on the table in front of him. The day he had sent Sara to find a dress he had gone to pick it up. He had ordered it a few weeks prior from one of the few reputable jewelers in Vegas. It had a silver band that embraced three small diamonds at the very top. He was going to ask her to marry him.

As the final touch he applied a small bottle of cologne had grabbed from off the vanity. It was probably one of the single most expensive items Warrick Brown owned; it had been a very rare type of cologne he had purchased years ago when he went to France. Since it was so small and so expensive, he only wore it on special occasions. Sara always liked his cologne, and this occasion was the definition of special.

After rigorously going over every single detail of his tuxedo several times he turned around as she emerged from the master bathroom. Oh she was always gorgeous and lovely in his eyes but there were not enough words to describe the way she looked at this very moment.

He hadn't seen the dress yet and Sara had hidden it safe in its box under their bed until tonight to surprise him. It was long and embraced the curves and shape of her legs, stopping just above her ankles. It was a dark red color—a cross between burgundy and maroon, perhaps—and the hem dipped so that it rested just above her heart. She was wearing a small necklace- nothing too flashy- but Warrick thought it accented the entire thing perfectly. Her lips were almost perfectly matching the shade of her dress and her eyes glittered in the evening sunlight.

"Oh Sara…" Warrick whispered. If he didn't know better he would've thought she was an angel, her small frame encircled with the day's remaining purple and orange sunlight. "You look absolutely beautiful." He wished he could think of some over term.

She shot him a smile that instantly warmed his heart as she turned around so he could see the back. He had missed that smile of hers. To his surprise the material ended a lot lower than he would suspect for her, making its mark just above her abdomen so he could see the muscles in her back. "Could you tie this for me?" she asked him.

"Hey, I was still enjoying the view," Warrick shot her a grin as he walked over and grabbed the ties from her hands, tying it securely but gently around her neck. "You surprised me, girl. This thing ends pretty low…" he told her.

She let out a squeak when she felt his hand roaming the exposed skin on her back and she immediately flipped around at the sound of Warrick's laughter. "Warrick!" she shouted, "I told you not to do that!"

"I'm sorry, I must've forgotten," Warrick said, clearing his throat. Oh he remembered, all right.

She shot him a look before she turned around and headed out of the bedroom down the hallway of the suite. "So where are we going for dinner?" she curiously asked. "I'm surprised you've been able to keep quiet about it for all this time."

"Hey, I can keep a secret or two," Warrick protested as he followed her down the hallway where she grabbed a small black clutch to carry along with her. "But you'll like it, I'll tell you that much."

"Oh I don't doubt that," she smiled at him, tucking a brown curl behind her ear. "So far this has been… magical. Like a fairy-tale," she said. "God, I feel like Alice in Wonderland," she giggled.

"That's the whole point," Warrick whispered, wrapping both arms around her waist and gently pulling her against him. "That's the whole point girl-- I wanted this night to be perfect. If you want fresh cut roses on the table, I'll go pick them for you. If you want to be swept off your feet by a knight in shining armor I'd gladly oblige."

Sara let out a sigh as he slowly rocked them back and forth from side-to-side and he gently placed kisses up and down her neck. "Mm… you spoil me, you know that, right? I could get used to this."

"Well I get to spoil you tonight, so you better get used to this," Warrick murmured into her ear. "We should go down to dinner though so we're not late."

"Alright, if you insist."

They left their room and headed down to the elevators where Warrick let Sara go in first before following behind her. He had to restrain himself from proposing to her in an elevator. He just wanted to run away with her and call her his wife but he wanted it to be special. Right now it felt as though he was dreaming; everything was absolutely perfect and every time he saw her smile or heard her laugh he could feel his heart flutter.

And at the present moment Sara Sidle felt like a princess. It had taken her practically thirty-six years to feel this way but she didn't care. She had found the one person most women wait a lifetime to meet. She had met her prince charming and she was going to soak in her bliss for as long as she wanted. She never knew love could do that to someone.

The elevator doors opened and Warrick looked over at Sara with a smile, linking his arm around hers as they stepped out into the hotel lobby. There was a man in the corner dressed in a waiter's uniform and he waved them over, a white towel thrown over his arm.

"Oh wow, Warrick," Sara whispered as they headed into the restaurant connected to the hotel. The carpet was a deep shade of red, almost matching Sara's dress and the walls were a beige color with gold lining around the beams. Every table—very full now with tourists and Vegas residents—was garnished with flowers, wine glasses and utensils of every shape and size. "This is… I've always wanted to come here, this place is so…" she trailed off, looking above them at the large chandelier.

Warrick tried not to grin too, too big as he kept quiet, not wanting to ruin the surprise. Their waiter guided them through the restaurant and Sara became quite confused when she found they were exiting. "Warrick, where are we going?" she asked him.

"You'll see," he smiled at her as they stopped in front of another door. "Do you trust me?" he asked her.

She shot him another one of her signature smiles just like he knew she would. "Of course," she whispered.

"I'm glad," Warrick smiled back at her as he made a motion at the waiter and he opened both of the large china doors in front of them.

"Warrick, what's—oh my goodness!" Sara gasped out the rest in pure astonishment as she took in the scene in front of her. There was a small table out on the balcony and two chairs on either side. On the table was a full vase of red roses between two lit candlesticks which illuminated the entire area. There weren't any other people around, she noticed. It wasn't a windy night. There were stars in the sky.

"I sure hope that's a good gasp," Warrick chuckled as he glanced over at her. She jumped into his arms and he held her, just enjoying being there with her.

"Warrick, this is absolutely beautiful," Sara whispered. "How were you able to—"

"Shh, don't worry about that," Warrick whispered back. "I don't want you to worry about anything tonight, Sara. Tonight is all about you and me, okay? Nothing else matters."

At that very moment Sara fell in love with Warrick Brown all over again.

"Let's go sit down," Warrick told her, walking over to her seat and pulling it out for her. She shot him another grateful smile as she sat down and he pushed her closer to the table, joining her in his spot across from her.

"Wine, Madam?" the waiter asked her, holding up a clear bottle with a very intricate design around the label.

"Yes, thank you," Sara told him.

"May I?" Warrick asked the waiter who only nodded and walked off as Warrick took the bottle from his hands and popped the cork, making Sara giggle as it fizzed at the top. "Have I ever told you how much I like your giggle?" he asked her as he carefully poured Sara the first glass.

"You've told me a lot of things," she beamed over at him as he poured a glass for himself before setting the bottle back down on the table.

"And they're all true," Warrick smiled, holding his glass up after he had taken a sip. "I really hope you're having a good time so far."

"Warrick," Sara started, shaking her head as she tried not to laugh. "There's no place I'd rather be. This has all been perfect… this is what I used to dream about when I was a little girl."

"Good," Warrick whispered, reaching across the table with his free hand and searching for hers. She brought it up from her lap and he slowly entwined his fingers with hers. "It may sound corny, but just seeing you smile has made this the best night of my life."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Brown," Sara laughed.

"No, really!" Warrick protested. Smooth. She thinks you're joking, Warrick. Don't try and take a page from the cheesy cliché romance movie and just speak your mind. "Sara… I wish I could make what I'm about to say make sense somehow, but… ever since that night all those months ago, I just wanted to see you smile or laugh again, girl. I wanted to do whatever it took to see you happy again. Seeing you happy makes me happy. You have no idea how much it thrills me to see you so happy."

"Warrick…" Sara whispered, giving his hand a little squeeze. "Warrick, you were making me happy…" she told him. "Just by being there with me, you helped more than you can ever imagine. I kept wondering what I had done right to deserve you… you were there with me, morning, day and night at my bedside, with a hot bowl of soup in your hands or there to offer a shoulder to cry on. I've… I've never had that before, Warrick."

"Well that changes now, then," Warrick softly told her, his other hand moving so that it was sandwiching hers between both of his. "From now on, you're never going to have to do anything by yourself ever again. I'm always going to be there with you to help every step of the way."

Warrick wanted to wait to do this until after dinner, but he just couldn't hold it off any longer. Sara watched as he reached into the pocket of his tuxedo and pulled out something that he kept hidden in his fist. She could only watch as he pushed his chair away from the table and kneeled down on his right knee in front of her.

Warrick felt like he was high as a kite as he held the small black box up in his palm for Sara to see. It was the one moment you always dreamed of but never thought would happen. "Sara Sidle…" he started, his voice wavering on pure nervousness and a bit of shyness. "…will you marry me?" he finally asked, opening the box up for her to see.

Sara was frozen in place as she looked at the black box in Warrick's hand to his face, to his face back to the box. Her mind was slapping her in the face and screaming at her to say something, anything but she couldn't. For the first time in her life she had been struck speechless. It had to be a fairy-tale. This sort of thing didn't happen to people like her. It happened to people like Cinderella, not Sara Sidle.

Never in her wildest dreams did she think this moment would actually come. She had always been convinced her relationships had been nothing but crap—her first boyfriend in college had slept with at least four other girls. Mr. Ken Fuller, hazel eyes, Delta Airlines bathroom—he had been a stupid bet made by her friends. She had most definitely lost that one.

But then there was Warrick. The relationship she had with him was the only one she had ever experienced where she didn't feel like she was fooling herself to be happy. He always knew just what to say or how to act, he always knew exactly what she needed or wanted. It was if they had been made for each other, destined to—

No, that couldn't be right. Her mother had always told her she would amount to nothing but a slut. She was reminded of that at least six times a day until her thirteenth birthday. Her father in his drunken glory had told her everyday as she left for school that her clothes made her look like the tramp she was and that she could burn in hell just like her damned mother see if he cared it served them right for being ungrateful—

"Sara."

Warrick said her name to free her from her trance. He could sense the disbelief in her eyes and knew what must be going through her mind. But he wasn't fooling her… it wasn't some sort of sick joke, he meant it and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and no one else. No other woman even compared to who she was.

"Sara, look at me," Warrick softly told her, gently moving her head so that she was looking at him again. "I'm serious, girl… I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I… I can't imagine trying to spend it with someone else. A life without you would be empty. I don't want emptiness, Sara. I just want to go through life with the woman I love by my side."

"Warrick…" Sara could feel the tears forming in her eyes fast and before she could try and stubbornly wipe them away they were already falling down her face. "Oh Warrick!" she wailed, falling forward and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Warrick practically dropped the ring and the box but he returned the embrace. "I love you too," she cried into his shoulder. "I love you too!"

Warrick cried his hardest not to start crying along with her but at this rate he stood no chance. "Is that a yes?" he laughed.

She pulled away and looked at him through tear-stained eyes. She could feel another lump in her throat rising just from the look he was giving her. She knew she must look like hell, her make-up was running and her hair was ruined but he was still looking at her like she was the most beautiful woman on earth. "Yes," she whispered.

Warrick pulled them both to their feet and gently grabbed her right hand, pulling it in front of him so he could put the ring on her finger. He slid it on with no trouble—it was a perfect fit. The diamonds glittered in the moonlight and the small flames of the candlelight on the table. "Good," he whispered to her. "Because I must say that I'm already very anxious to call you my wife."

They leaned forward and kissed and Sara just wished she could be lost in the sensation for eternity. For the first time she was content with life. She didn't care if anyone saw her and Warrick, actually what she really wanted was to run to the end of the balcony and scream it at the top of her lungs. She wasn't worried about anything, which truly was an accomplishment for her. All that mattered was Warrick, that she was here with Warrick and they loved each other.

When they pulled away for air Warrick looked at her and shot her a smile, still gently rubbing her hands with his thumbs. "That ring looks quite good on you if I do say so myself."

Sara just laughed as he tenderly wiped away her tears with his fingertips while she admired the ring. "It's beautiful, Warrick," she told him, "It fits perfectly… how did you know?"

Warrick couldn't help but chuckle. "I actually asked Cath to fix me a mold so I could get it just right. I took it while you were asleep one night."

Sara giggled. "I bet everyone in the lab had a field day about that."

"I didn't tell her why I needed it," Warrick smiled. "And by the way, I apologize for the cheese factor of my long monologue earlier…"

"Hey," Sara stopped him, raising an eyebrow. "I'm a woman," she whispered, leaning closer so that her face was mere inches from his. "We like cheesy. This is usually the part in the movie where we're fighting over the box of Kleenex."

"If you say so," Warrick grinned, brushing a hand against her cheek. "So would you like to sit down and finish our dinner, which I don't think we ever got to start," he laughed.

"As strange as it may sound I'm actually not hungry anymore…" Sara whispered, nuzzling her nose against his. "I don't want this moment to end…"

"Then that makes two of us," Warrick whispered back, placing a hand on her back as he pulled her close, resting his head just above hers. "That makes two of us, Sara."

For moments, there was just the two of them. And then there was a gunshot.