Standing on the steps of MDPD, he saw the beautiful Mrs. Delko-Caine walked towards him, wearing one of her bombshell smiles as she did.

"Seems that you had fun," Horatio said, taking off his sunglasses.

"You can say that," she smiled at her red-haired husband.

He returned a smiled of his own and asked, "How was he?"

Marisol laughed at the question. "A little vulgar…but, kind of sweet."

"Sweet? To you, maybe," he said, giving her a tight smile. "He treats me like I killed his pet dog."

"You know," she said with a small giggle, "I think you two are quite a pair."

Horatio raises an eyebrow, his fingers fiddling with his sunglasses.

"From the way you and Rick have been treating each other," she continued, "people would mistake you two for being brothers."

"We're that nice to each other?" he replied in a perplexed tone.

"In a sibling kind of way."

Horatio gazed at the ground, then glanced sideways with a tilt of his head. He looked at his lovely wife and chuckled at the thought of him and Rick being brothers.

"Sorry. I don't see it."

"That's okay," she said, and looked up at the gentle blue sky, before saying, "Neither did he."

The redhead stared at her for a few seconds, the statement hanging in the air.

"Um, Marisol," he said, "what did you and Rick exactly talked about?"

"Oh, you'll find out…" She glanced at him, her eyes glistening. She gave him a sweet smile. "…and no sooner than you think."

Horatio recognized the look on his wife's face, that smile and glint in her eyes. It made him wonder what she was up to.

CSI: Miami

After taking his lunch at Benny's, Eric drove right back to MDPD and proceeded towards the crime lab floor. As he did, he felt so proud of himself; humiliating Stetler was the greatest thing he had ever achieved. And if given another chance, he'll probably do it all over again, without hesitation. It was like he had won an Olympic gold medal, or attained a Nobel Peace Prize, or, married Kate Beckinsale. He felt utterly happy and thought nothing could ruin the moment.

"Hey, Paula," he greeted at the receptionist's desk the minute he walked out the elevator.

The young police officer bit her lip and struggled for a straight face as she tried to greet him back.

"Hey—" Giggle. "—Eric."

As he walked farther away, he heard her bursting into fits of laughter.

He smiled.

She was still enjoying the video he had spread about Stetler, he thought. And before he had anymore things to think about, his cell phone chirped. He answered it with a press of a button.

"Hello."

"Hey, man."

"Speed!" he exclaimed as he realized the lazy drawl. "How's my wingman doing in New York?"

"Never better. Anyway, about the video…"

"Liked it?" he said with a toothy grin. "Everybody did."

"Okay, I confess. It was funny."

"You don't sound happy," Eric said after he studied his friend's voice.

"Well, I just called to remind you that you're dealing with Sergeant Idiotic Ass for Brains, and—"

"Wait, hold up," Eric interrupted, not noticing that as he walked deeper in the lab, the people around him started to turn back or cover their mouths to stifle their uncontrollable laughter. "Are you warning me about Stetler?"

"Uh, yeah. The video's funny and all but you still need to be careful. Or else, Payback's gonna bite you on the ass."

"I won't let it," the Cuban shot back, cell phone pressing against his ear. "Come on, Speed. Don't be such a kill-joy. I know what I'm doing. Stetler can't get me."

"All I'm saying is watch your ass. I've been with the prick longer than you have and something tells me his plan is already in motion."

"Man, Speed, you sound just like H," stated Eric. "Stop worrying, I'll be fine. Have you forgotten? I learned from the master."

"Well, the master says 'Watch your ass.' I don't wanna get embarrassed if my student gets hit by payback straight on the face. "

"I wasn't talking about you."

"You and I both know that's a lie."

"What?!" Eric scoffed. "Look, I'll prove to you that you and H are worrying about nothing. I'll call you back."

"Whatever, Mr. Cocky. Just don't blame me if Stetler pulls one over you."

"He won't," he finally said before he bade his doubting friend good-bye, and pocketed his cell. He saw people smile strangely at him as he continued his pace. He passed by the AV lab but had to double back as he became aware that it was flooding with lab techs. Even Alexx, Calleigh and Ryan were there. And they were all laughing.

'They're still watching?' Eric thought.

"Hey, Eric!" shouted Dan Cooper, the AV expert, with a wave of his hand when he saw him standing just outside the entrance. Everybody turned and laid their eyes on him. "I see you're not wearing a bra today."

Eric shot him a confused look and stared at everyone in the Audio Visual lab. He noticed that they were straining to keep a straight face; some even bit their lower lip for control, including Calleigh. Ryan turned and faced the other way, his mouth tightly closed.

Seeing the disturbed look on his friend's face, Dan started to type on his keyboard. Then, he clicked the play button on his wide-screen monitor using the mouse that was under his palm.

A scene flickered for everybody to see. A dark skinned boy, not more than 9, appeared, looking at his reflection on the mirror, which the video camera had no view of at the moment. He seemed to be dancing, swaying his shoulders from left to right while he was putting something on his face.

Eric's heart sank as he watched.

Oh, God, no…

Back at the monitor, the boy suddenly jumped as a noise of something exploding erupted, making him drop what he was holding and gape at the person in front of him.

"Marisol!" he said in surprise as he swerved to face her; lips glistening with lipstick and a bra came into view.

"ERIC!!" she shouted in absolute shock and anger, coming into view of the video camera. "What are you doing with my lipstick!?!?"

The young boy saw his older sister's fury and began to stammer.

"I'm not doing anything with your lipstick!" he claimed innocently.

"And why are you wearing my bra!?!?!"

"I'm not wearing your bra!" he shot back, hands pressed on his chest . "I was simply—" Looks around. "—holding it against myself."

"Ugh, you little creep!!" Marisol exclaimed, grossed out. She snatched her bra away from her little brother, who had his face covered with make-up. "Get out of my room!!!"

The 9 year-old skedaddled it out of there, leaving a steaming older sister to clean up the mess he had left behind. The monitor flickered and went blank, the reflection of a horrified Eric Delko emanating from it.

The people around him were caught on fits of utmost joy and hilarious laughter. This time, they weren't laughing with him. They were laughing at him. And he wanted to vanish from the face of the Earth that had turned its back on him because of the unbearable humiliation that was right in front of his horror-struck face.

"I can't believe you, baby," Alexx laughed, wiping happy tears from her eyes.

"You looked so cute, Eric!" exclaimed Calleigh, trying and quickly failing from stopping herself from joining the others in their laughing frenzy.

"This is way more embarrassing then what Stetler did!" cried out Maxine Valera, leaning on the wall for support while she convulsed in laughter.

"And you're a lady's man?!" questioned Ryan in delight, clutching his sides. He never laughed so hard in his life.

Eric couldn't take it anymore and forced his way out of the AV lab, all pale and humiliated, trying to escape with little to no dignity left.

As he made his way through the laughing crowd, he finally got out of the AV lab, only to be blasted with more laughter and pointing fingers.

He froze. He had nowhere else to go. He was completely surrounded by sniggering and teasing faces. It was like he was in a part of hell unknown to man and he desperately wanted to get out. He wanted to commit suicide right then and there.

"Embarrassing, isn't it?" he heard someone from behind him say. He could feel the smile forming and the satisfaction on his voice. "Well, what can I say? Payback's a bitch."

Eric turned and saw a cocky smile on one Rick Stetler's face. He gave him a chilling glare.

"The question is," continued the Sergeant, smirking, and unfazed by the murderous look the young CSI was giving him, "what are you gonna do about it?"

The CSI didn't say anything and just kept on glaring, which just made Stetler smirk wider. He hated the smug look on the man's face. He wanted to burn him alive.

The IAB Agent laughed at the man's silence as he turned around and began to walk away, his hands in his front pockets. Payback felt so good and it was all thanks to one person.

As much as he wanted to kill the man who had just laughed and turned his back on him, he decided first on paying a visit on a certain brother-in-law of his and give him a piece of his mind.

Without another second to waste, he dashed it out of their and headed for the certain someone's office.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Little Horatio: Hey, everybody! Sorry for the long delay. Being a graduating high school student is taking up a lot of my time and I'm getting sick of it. All those projects and damn thesis papers…to hell with them!!

I hope you all liked this chapter. I did (grin). And don't hesitate on letting me know, okay? I'll post the next chapter ASAP, so don't worry. Thanks for reading!!