A month or so later, after a particularly harsh case that we all were in on together, we found ourselves at lunch with Grissom, Cath, and Nicky.

Warrick and I were fully into the new, lustful relationship feeling. You know, when everyone loves each other, things that might become annoying later are cute little quirks now, and most importantly.. we couldn't keep our hands off each other. I loved the man for a lot of things.. his intelligence, his passion, his giving nature, for one. But the fact that there was fireworks in the bedroom helped things tremendously. We had a fiery chemistry.

I was happier than I'd ever been in the past 5 years of being in Las Vegas. I don't know what it was that got me so depressed. It was Grissom and his inability to show any kind of passion, that was part of it. But it was just the town, and how extremely depressing and seedy it could be. I loved Las Vegas, but it wasn't exactly the best place to live.

My dreams were even happy lately. When I used to dream about falling from the sky or not making it to school in time, now it was always me and Warrick together. Most of the time we were married, living together in wedded bliss. I wanted more than anything for that dream to come true, and I knew it probably would in time. We were just so perfect together! We took our awesome friendly and professional relationship and took it to the next level, and it worked. We had secret in-jokes, subtle glances, fiery conversations about our work and our politics and our hopes and dreams. It was beautiful, and I never wanted it to end.

At lunch, I sat across from Warrick because I knew if I was sitting next to him, I wouldn't be able to not touch him. On one hand, while we managed to keep our relationship at work strictly professional, I knew Grissom knew about us. I knew he saw the looks we shared, the moments that lasted a little too long to be casual. I knew he could tell why I was smiling all the time, and I hoped it made him happy. He told me that he wanted me to have the chance with Warrick he never had with me, so I hoped this was good enough for him. I really hoped he was happy for me.

I was sitting next to Cath, who was sitting across from Nicky. To outsiders in the restaurant, we were just some crime scene analysts who were hungry. To all five of us, we were a unique little in-group who couldn't get enough from each other. Nicky and Catherine had been together for close to a year now, and they still managed to keep their relationship under wraps. But I knew Grissom knew about them, too. He had known Cath for almost 20 years, and I knew there was no way he didn't have some idea about it. I almost wished that something would happen so we could all have normal relationships. I sometimes yearned to go on a normal double date with Nicky and Cath, but as long as we worked together, that would never happen.

I knew we were all skating on thin ice here. If someone from the outside caught on to the weird relationship between us all, there would be problems. I knew that, Warrick knew that, Catherine knew that, Nicky knew that, and, most importantly.. Grissom surely knew it. But he never mentioned it, and we all continued our little show for the viewing public. I was extra careful in public, most of all at crime scenes. I never forgave myself for calling Hank "baby" so long ago at the crime scene. It wasn't cool, and it wasn't professional. In truth, I knew that one or probably even two of us should transfer to a different shift, but none of us managed to ask for that form yet. We were playing a dangerous game, and it always made me nervous.

Meanwhile, back at lunch, Grissom was talking about something to do with bugs and nobody was really paying attention. Cath was trying to do bad things with her feet to Nicky under the table. Warrick was staring at me so intently I was actually wondering if his piercing blue eyes might burn a hole through me. When Grissom finally stopped talking, we all looked up at him, and we were all surprised to see something strange and different on his face. What was that? Was it.. a smile?

"What is that on your face, Gil? It's weird," Cath said, taking a bite of her french fries.

"A smile, Catherine. It's a smile. I do it sometimes, mostly when nobody is around."

"What are you smiling about, Gris?" I asked nosily.

"Well, I'm certainly glad you asked. I'm just happy that all my CSI's are happy and healthy, and that our unit is surpassing its expected results yet again, and that we're solving all our crimes and a few old ones in the process. You know. Happy."

I had a sneaking suspicion that this isn't what was really making Gil happy. I knew for a fact that he had been to Lady Heather's again, a few times. I was happy for him. I knew they had some kind of weird attraction to each other that I would never really understand, and didn't try to. I hoped Lady Heather was making him happier than I was ever able to.

"Come on, Gil. That's not all, is it? Tell us! We deserve to know." Catherine said, pushing his buttons.

"Okay. Well. I do have some good news for all of us. I know you guys have been wondering about a promotion," he said, meaning me, Warrick and Nicky. "Well, we got it. I didn't want to tell you right now, but I'm excited. You guys have been wanting this for a long time."

"So.. who's it going to be?" I asked. My heart began to fill with dread. I wanted that promotion, so very very much, but... it could complicate things.

"Not now! I'll tell you guys at the end of shift tomorrow. The paperwork isn't done, and there's some things I have to check into first. I know, I know, you don't want to wait. But it will be worth it. Trust me."

I knew things were about to get weird. As it turned out, the promotion wasn't the least of my problems. Things were about to get much worse.