Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. They really help ease the winter blues! Anything you recognize belongs to JE.

-Steph's POV-

Once again, I was fighting blackness. Man, was this getting old. After what seemed to be an eternity, the blackness turned to gray and I became aware. I felt a hand on mine. The warmth it gave off felt good, as did the caresses it gave. I knew it was Ranger; the back of my neck was tingling, just as it always does when he's near. It's like having built in radar.

I slowly opened my eyes. Seeing Ranger is always a great way to wake up, not that this happens very often. Unfortunately. He hadn't seemed to notice my new level of awareness, so I took it as my duty to alert him.

"Yo." Thankfully, my throat wasn't too dry. He started at the sound, but recovered quickly. Ha! I caught Batman unaware! "Yo yourself." Great, now he was stealing my lines. "You stole mine." Damn ESP.

"Do you know what happened?"

"Yeah, someone tried to shoot you. I pushed you out of the way, but ended up on the receiving end of a bullet."

"Babe, you saved my life. The bullet would have been a direct hit to the heart. Thank you, Babe. I owe you my life." I also saved my own life, as I wouldn't want to live without him, but that's beside the point,

He looked amused. "Oh shit, I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Yeah Babe. For the record, I feel the same. I can't live without you, which is why I need to ask you something." My eyes widened and my heart sped as he held out some dog tags. One had Ranger on one side with Ricardo Carlos Manoso on the other. The next had Babe on one side with Stephanie Michelle Manoso on the other. The last had a pair of wings on the front and on the back it said, 'I'll always be there to help you fly and to catch you if you fall.'

I looked up at him with tears in my eyes. "Babe, will you marry me?"

"Yes." Then I was given a bone-melting kiss.

We decided not to tell the public of our engagement, unless they noticed or found out. There really wasn't any reason to, considering I was still technically dead and it would be quite hard to marry under the circumstances. Besides, who doesn't love surprises?

When he asked me to marry him, I'd never been happier in my life. I certainly hadn't been this happy when I married the Dick. It's not even fair to compare the feelings. I was even more touched when he explained his reasoning behind the dog tags. "Babe, in our line of work, it's not exactly practical to wear a ring every day. Besides, this way I'll always be close to your heart." His explanation started a new round of tears.

Once I composed myself a bit- I couldn't keep the grin off my face, even Ranger was having some problems with that- the visitors started coming in.

The first was my father. The first thing he said was "Looks like you said yes." I must have looked surprised, because Ranger then said, "I asked for his permission. I thought that if I was going to do it, then I had better do it right." Makes sense to me. "I'm happy for you two. It's about time you two got your acts together." If Ranger seemed surprised by this, he didn't show it.

Daddy stayed for a bit longer, and then let Joe in. I mentally flinched; I really wasn't looking forward to yelling. Ranger, noticing my discomfort, slipped his hand in mine. The first words out of his mouth were, "Good luck, Ranger. You're going to need it."

"What?" I said. Ranger cocked an eyebrow, his equivalent to my question. "I said good luck. If you guys are together, which I'm assuming you are, considering you're deliriously happy and have been going in circles around each other for ages, then Ranger will need it. Am I right?"

"Yes, we're together…" I wasn't sure if I should tell him. "And?" I looked at Ranger, who gave a small tilt of his head. "…and we're engaged."

He seemed to be taking it well, though it can be hard to tell with Joe. Our final breakup had been anticlimactic. We had sat down and talked like civil human beings. We came to the conclusion that we didn't work well together as a couple. Turns out we make good friends. A week after our breakup, Joe started dating a girl who, wait for it, worked at the button factory. They seemed to be a good match for each other. I was happy for them. Unfortunately, my mother wasn't. She was still convinced that I would marry Joe even though we are completely and forever over. Boy was she ever in for a surprise.

"I'm happy for you. I think you're meant to be together. You're the only one who can put up with him and he's the only one who can keep up with yours. I'm surprised it took you this long to get together. So, when's the wedding?"

It took me a minute to catch up. This wasn't exactly the reaction I expected. "We're not really sure. We've been engaged for less than an hour. We haven't really had a chance to talk about it. Probably, the sooner the better. It'll be easier on all of us if my mom- and the Burg – have little time to think about it."

Ranger chose that moment to speak up. "Maybe, once we talk to all of Cezar's former acquaintances, we could have a celebration of sorts. We invite everyone involved in the investigation, our families, our friends, and simply have the wedding then. This way everyone finds out you're alive, no one was time to fret over out engagement, and everyone is there for the wedding."

I blinked. Ranger has been opening up a lot lately, but that was still a long speech by his standards. Still, it was a perfect idea. "That sounds great, only one more thing." Ranger motioned for me to continue. "We should make it a surprise. This conversation won't be repeated to anyone other than those vital to the wedding."

"Great idea, Babe. Sneaky. I like it. Proud of you."

"Didn't think I had it in me?" I didn't think I did either. Must be all this time spent with Ranger.

Ranger shook his head and smiled. The smile grew wider, more toward his 200 watt heart-melter. His ESP must have kicked in. "Babe."

I would like to acknowledge that the dog tag idea was not mine. Though I cannot remember who wrote it, I liked the idea and hope that they don't have any problems with me using it. Please review, the weather's been dreadful and they give me something to look forward to. Thanks!