Later, I had a dream. It wasn't unusual of the dreams I had been having lately.. there was happiness and flowers and clouds. In the middle of it, it started raining. This turned into a huge storm with hail and lightening and eventually tornadoes. The tornado swept me away into some dark place that I didn't recognize. It never stopped raining, and it was always dark, and somewhere in there I was attacked by three rabid dogs.

I woke up again in a cold sweat, knowing that this day at work was not going to be a particuarly good one if I was starting off the day with dreams like that.

Warrick sprang up and looked at me with a worried expression?

"What's wrong, Sar Bear? Are you okay?"

I smiled and kissed his forehead.

"I'm fine. I just had a bad dream, but it happens."

He snorted.

"Especially in our line of work," he said. He gave me a long, lingering kiss and for a second, I thought about calling in sick to work so we could spend just a little more time together. But then I remembered.

"Warrick.."

"Yes, baby cakes?"

"I'm worried. About the promotion. I think we should talk about it."

He sighed.

"Damn Sara, I knew that's what was bothering you! What are you so worried about it? We either get it or we don't. Neither of us are going anywhere. They need us too much."

"I know, but.."

"It's not a big deal. Let's just see who gets it. We can talk about it later, okay?" He gave me another long kiss and for the moment I forgot all about the promotion. Especially when he stripped to get in the shower. But then again, I always forgot what it was I was thinking about it when Warrick was naked.

Later, at work, we gave our best to the crime scenes we encountered, but I knew that all had that damn promotion at the back of our minds. I knew it wouldn't be Catherine because she was as high up in the ranks as she could get without being the supervisor. It was either me, Nicky, or Warrick.

And by all accounts, I hoped it would be me. I felt I deserved it. I worked my ass off this whole year, and I knew Grissom was aware of that. I wouldn't tell anybody this, but I felt I went above and beyond, even more than Warrick and Nicky did. I wanted to move up in the world! I didn't want to be in this position forever. I had goals and ambitions, and this promotion was really going to put me in a better place for that.

When we were back at the station, I stalked Grissom in his office.

"Gris.."

"Sara, I know why you're in here and I know what you want to know. You'll have to wait, just like everyone else."

"Come on Gris! I want to know!"

He looked at me intently, seemingly trying to study me. It always made me nervous when he did that, and I never got used to it.

"Why do you want to know before everyone else, Sara? Do you think you deserve to know more than them?"

"No!" I stammered. Damnit! Why did he have to know me so well!

"Isn't there something else you could be doing right now?"

"I.. I guess."

I left his office, feeling a little bit lower than I did when I entered it. He knew me so well. The fact that another human being on this planet knew what I was all about, and the fact that it wasn't Warrick, unnerved me more than I wanted it to.

After Nicky and I processed some evidence and moved forward in our case, Grissom started paging us individually. I guess he didn't want us all in there at the same time lest one of us gets jealous.

He paged Nicky first. He left the evidence room and sauntered into Grissom's office, looking as cool as he always did. He didn't come back after 10 minutes, and I was really starting to get a little jittery.

After almost an hour, I was finally paged. I walked slowly into Grissom's office, my mind firing off bullets the whole time. I hate when I got like this. I hate when I need to be calm but instead I feel like doing cartwheels down the hall and screaming at the top of my lungs.

"Thanks for coming in, Sara. Sit down."

I groaned inwardly. Why was he being so formal?

"I know this has been on your mind for a while, and I know it's really important to you. I've decided over the past couple of weeks that someone in this unit really deserves a promotion, because the effort they put in their work, the time and the energy, is really something to behold."

Yeah yeah yeah, I thought to myself. Who is it?

"I've decided, Sara, that that someone is you. Congratulations, I'm giving you a well deserved promotion!"

I finally, for the first time that day, allowed myself to smile.

"Thank you so much, Gris! You will not regret this, I swear!" I leaped out of my chair and gave him a hug. He was not a hug type of guy, but he still accepted it willingly.

"I know I won't. You're the best person for the job, Sara. You know you are."

I turned to leave, wanting to skip and dance and whistle, when Grissom tapped me on the back.

"Be careful, Sara. This is good for you, we all know that. But some.. things in your life might get a little more complicated now. You're going to have to be more careful. Okay?"

"Yes, I know. It won't be a problem.

"Good. Congratulations, Sara."

I left the office, slightly deflated.

Later, Warrick, Nicky and Catherine took me out to celebrate the promotion. I knew we were treading on thin ice, all of us out together. We tried to make it look like a work event, but the love between all four of us was hard to deny.

I had a little to drink. Okay, I had A LOT to drink. So much that Warrick had to drive me and my car back to my house. When we got in, I pulled him closer to me for a long and passionate kiss that was meant to suggest I wanted something else, if you know what I mean.

"Easy, girl. Let's get settled in before you go molesting me."

"Warrick.. I love you!" I slurred.

"I love you too, baby," he said, kissing my forehead.

"I'm sorry you didn't get the promotion!"

"I'm not. You deserved it more."

"Come on, you don't really think that, do you? You wanted this for yourself! It's okay to just admit it!"

"Sara, really, it's okay. My time will come. It's no big deal."

I laughed hysterically. Some part of me knew I was pressing the issue and that I should probably just be quiet, but I ignored it.

"Come on, Warrick. You can tell me. Does it drive you crazy?"

He looked at me, hard. It was not a look I liked, at all.

"What do you mean, does it drive me crazy?"

"Does it drive you crazy that Grissom likes me better than you?" Oops. Did I really just say that? I knew it was a mistake the second it passed my lips.

"Damn, Sara. I've really been trying to be supportive for you, but you're making it so hard! Of course it makes me crazy! Of course it makes me doubt myself! It's so obvious why he picked you."

Okay, now I was sobering up, and fast.

"Oh really? And what's so obvious about it?"

"Please! The friction between you guys is still so unbelievable! I know you've said that whatever you guys had is over, but I don't think it is. I think he picked you to make you happy. Honestly, if you really want to know the truth, I don't think he picked you on merit at all. That's what I think."

I stared at him. If he wanted to hurt me, these words were the way to do it.

"So. You don't think I deserve this?"

He threw his glass of water at the wall. I knew he had rage issues, but I didn't know it ever could apply to me.

"No! I don't! I wanted it more than anything, Sara! Why don't you get that?"

"YOU wanted it more than anything? What about me? I worked hard for it too, Warrick! I put my heart and soul in this fucking job!"

He shook his head.

"I gotta go, Sara. I think we've said some things we're going to regret later, and I just really need to get out of here."

He left, slamming the door. It would be the first time in months when we hadn't slept together.

I cried myself to sleep.

Okay, so that wasn't the best chapter ever. I'm going to take a little break over the weekend and maybe I'll come back with better flowing creating juices. Good times!

Thanks for all the feedback, and keep it coming!