Happy Yule to: hannahfmuk
A/N: This is for hannahfmuk. See, she’s always got a Danny icon up on her YIM and I always have a Sara one. That got us talking and boom, suddenly I had to write a Sara/Danny story. This is the prologue to the series. Enjoy, luv.
Disclaimer: Sara Sidle is not mine. She may inhabit my head in about four different directions, but she isn’t mine. If she were, I would be far richer and living in LA and working for CBS. The same deal goes for Danny Taylor.
Pairing: Sara Sidle/Danny Taylor
Rating: Teen

Summary: She was right. There were stars in Vegas.

Prologue: Starlight in Vegas

April 2005
Las Vegas, NV

“Since when is there starlight in Vegas?”

“Trust me.” Her concentration was on the road in front of them but he still knew she was rolling her eyes.

“Sara, I trust you completely. I am just wondering if you’ve confused the lights for stars. I know it can happen. Look in some journal somewhere, there has to be a study.”

“Keep up that kind of talk and you’ll not only miss the stars but you’ll walk back to the strip and find a place with an empty room.”

He knew that it was an empty threat, but he also wasn’t sure there were actually stars in the Vegas sky.

Maybe Las Vegas was really a black hole and the rest of the country was just the event horizon, orbiting around it. He almost voiced the idea to Sara, but she’d have no trouble explaining to him what was wrong with his theory and while he quite enjoyed how sexy she was when she was talking science, he had a plan for tonight and didn’t feel like having it thwarted by her brand of sarcasm.

“We’re here.” Sara again flashed that beautiful, imperfect grin at him while she easily parked her car.

Maybe this trip to see these fictional stars had been a good idea after all. The romantic dinner he’d planned could be a possible celebration, or an icebreaker if she turned him down. He patted his jacket pocket once to make sure the box was still there and then followed her out of the car and to the edge of the path.

Sure footed – he wondered how many times she’d come up here to process a crime scene – Sara led him up a steep path. Only her mag light kept them from tripping. “You sure that you’re not bringing me up here just to dump my body?”

“Danny,” Sara’s voice flowed over him, “whatever makes you think that if I wanted to kill you, I’d need to bring you up here to do it? You’re a missing persons investigator so I’d leave your body in plain sight. In fact, I’d make sure I was assigned to the case.”

“You scare me, Sidle.”

“Never, ever tempt a CSI. You should have learned that by now.”

“You want to tell me where we’re going?”

“You want to shut up and follow me?” Her light tone made him laugh and he shook his head.

Sara stopped abruptly before him and he covered running into her by sliding his arms around her slim waist.

“Smooth, Taylor.” She was looking up at the sky; he was nuzzling into her neck. He didn’t need to see the stars. All the beauty he needed was right here in his arms.

“I love you,” he whispered, his arms tightening around her.

“I love you too.”

“Does it still feel strange for you to say that to someone?”

“No.” She leaned back even more into his arms and he smiled as he finally followed her gaze.

She was right. There were stars in Vegas.

“This is beautiful, Sara.”

“When I first moved here, it was the only thing that kept me sane. I couldn’t believe how much I missed San Francisco.”

“How’d you find it?”

“You’ll be grossed out.”

“As long as we aren’t standing on the very spot where two teenage kids were found dead …”

Her laughter vibrated against him. “No, that’s my other favorite spot.”

“Sidle …”

“Taylor …”

He chuckled again and pulled her closer. “Hey.” He whispered in her ear, still gazing up at the stars. “I’ve got a question for you.”

“You don’t need to try lame pickup lines on me anymore, you know.”

“Well, I was going to say something cheesy about your eyes reflecting all of these stars and how I could see eternity written in the velvety blackness between the twinkling lights, but I figured that the harlequin lines would just win me an elbow in the stomach.”

She giggled, softly, and he rested his head against hers. “Sidle,” he started again, his nerve coming out from the shadows.

“Taylor,” she whispered right back.

“Marry me.”

She stopped giggling.

To Be Continued

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