A/N: First of all, thank you to Ruzila and Joy22 from Talk CSI, for their much needed Tina facts; some of their facts gave me an idea for this chapter. And secondly, I really want to thank all of you for your comments on the previous chapter. I am glad that people are reading this fic, and I am so excited to know that you are enjoying what you are reading. Hopefully, this chapter won't disappoint you!

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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.

Title: The Betrayal

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The Sun City Diner

Ignoring everyone else in the diner except for Sara, Warrick frowned. "Long story short," he stared down at his barbecue bacon cheeseburger. "I caught her with another man. And I'm not talking about catching her with another man doing something innocuous, either."

"Oh," Sara sighed, her attention completely on her friend. "I'm really sorry, Warrick. I know how that feels," she mumbled, remembering Hank, and how he had led her on. And the feeling is not a good one. Glancing down at her grilled cheese, Sara twirled a Fry fry in one hand, before dipping it into her ketchup, and looking up at him again. "So you said that she kicked you out, after you found them?"

Warrick simply nodded, taking a bite of his cheeseburger. "She kicked me out that night, and said that it was over between the two of us. It's actually ironic, though," he continued, raising his gaze to meet hers.

"What is?" Sara asked, a little bit puzzled.

"We're supposed to be criminalists, right? Criminalists from one of the best crime labs in the country?" Sara nodded. "Well, I didn't even see this coming. I mean, hell, she must have been sleeping with him for months, in my bed, right under my nose; and the great Warrick Brown didn't even notice it," he heavily sighed. Talk about irony.

Sara picked up another French fry, dipping it into her ketchup. Pursing her lips, she took a moment to carefully choose her words, before popping the fry into her mouth. "If you were in love, Warrick," she chewed and swallowed her food. "I can understand why you wouldn't have noticed anything wrong. Your… love would have contributed to you being unaware of everything that was going on around you." At least I've heard that love can be blinding.

Warrick raised an eyebrow. "But that's just it, Sara. Tina accused me of never loving her in the first place. And in hindsight, she might have been right."

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The Brown Residence, several months prior

"Who the hell are you?" Warrick repeated his question, dropping the roses to the ground beside him. "Huh? Who the hell are you?" he stared at the man, waiting for some sort of an answer to his question.

The man looked from Tina, to Warrick, and back to Tina again, anxiously tucking the rumpled sheet around his lower body. "I, uh—" he stammered. Glancing down at the bed, the man frowned. Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!

"Warrick," Tina cautiously spoke up, trying to get his attention. "Warrick, this isn't what it looks like!"

"Oh?" Warrick asked, frowning. "And just what does this look like to you, Baby? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like my wife is stepping out on me."

"Warrick, I just—" Tina started to say.

"Wait a minute," Warrick hissed, as his gaze fell upon the clothing strewn around the bedroom floor. "I don't understand," he frowned, as he took in her nurse's uniform, a pair of green scrubs, and the part of a last name embossed on a hospital nametag. But truth be told, Warrick did understand; he now knew exactly what was going on, although his mind still refused to accept the truth that his eyes were trying to show him. Are you… are you cheating on me with one of the doctors from your hospital?

"Robert, maybe you should just leave," Tina whispered.

Warrick immediately snapped his head back toward the bed, squinting at the mystery man. Okay, so I wasn't one-hundred percent correct. "Oh, no. Oh hell no!" he screamed, getting a good look at the person occupying the middle of his bed. "Robert? The ex-husband doctor, Tina? Shit!" he yelled.

"Warrick, I'm sorry, we just—" she tried to explain.

"What the hell are you doing here, Robert?" Warrick interrupted her statement, as his eyes narrowed. Without giving the man a chance to reply, he continued. "I don't believe this, Tina! You're cheating on me with your ex-husband? What the hell!"

Robert finally sprang into action, climbing out of the bed, with the sheet still wrapped tightly around his waist. "Tina, I'll call you later," he mumbled, trying to scoop up his clothing as quickly as possible.

"Like hell you will!" Warrick angrily told him, watching as Robert gathered up all of his belongings. "But get the hell out of my house! Now!" Stepping aside so that Robert could more easily pass by him, Warrick stood with his hands on his hips.

Robert glanced at Tina once more, before hesitantly rushing by Warrick—as if afraid that the other man would punch him at any moment—and flying down the stairs. Moments later, Warrick heard the front door slam shut, followed by a car door slamming, and an engine from somewhere down the street roaring into action.

"Warrick—"

"How could you, Tina?" Warrick quietly prompted his wife, the hurt and anger still evident in his eyes. "I came home to surprise you, and I got the surprise of a lifetime! How could you?" he repeated his question.

"We didn't plan for this to happen, Warrick," she calmly informed him, wrapping her bathrobe even more tightly around herself. "It just did! I work with him, for God's sake! I see him all of the time. And it just happened!"

Warrick sadly shook his head from side to side, turning around in order to walk out of the room. "I still can't believe it," he mumbled under his breath. How could this have happened? What did I do wrong?

"Don't you even dare start playing the role of the victim!" Tina suddenly screamed at Warrick. "Because this is all your fault, anyhow!"

"…What?" Warrick stopped dread in his tracks. "How is this all my fault?" he asked, turning around to stare at her. "I don't seem to recall inviting your ex-husband over here, helping him undress, and then forcing the two of you to do whatever it is that you were doing on our bed," he angrily told her, the hurt and frustration once again starting to show in his voice.

"This wouldn't have happened had you loved me!" Tina blurted out.

"I… huh?" Warrick swallowed, furrowing his eyebrows. "What do you mean, Tina? I asked you to marry me, didn't I?" he pointed out. "I believe I said my 'I-do's' with you, rather than someone else!"

"But you don't love me," she repeated, cautiously moving toward the bed. "You only married me because of Nick!"

"That's not true, and you know it!" Warrick spat back, the anger seeping into his voice. "That doesn't even make sense!"

"Oh? When did you propose to me?" she lowered her voice into a whisper, waiting for him to answer her question.

Warrick looked confused. Why should that even matter?

When Warrick didn't reply to her, however, Tina answered her own question. "Two days after he was found."

"That doesn't mean that I don't love you, Tina!"

"True," she shook her head. "But it means that his death made you realize what you were missing in your life."

"Yeah, you!" Warrick tried again. "My life was missing you!"

"No, Rick. Your life was missing a family. And you thought that I could fill that empty void for you. You don't love me," she informed him, once again quiet and calm. "You definitely love someone, but it isn't me."

"This is ridiculous!" Warrick shouted, his voice rising in anger. "Of course I love you!"

"I'm doing you a favor, Warrick," Tina continued, sitting down on the bed. "I'm sorry that you had to find out this way, but I'm doing you a favor."

"What are you talking about? What favor?"

"I'm leaving you, and Robert and I are going to get re-married. I love Robert, and he loves me. And you love someone else."

Warrick's jaw dropped open, as he stood with his hands on his hips. This isn't happening. I know that this isn't happening. "You're getting back together with him?" he asked, missing the part of her statement about him being in love with someone else.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tina shot back. "I love him, Warrick! I love him more than I ever loved you. I'll give you time to pack your bags, but then I want you out of here."

Warrick ran a shaky hand through his hair, before turning around in stunned silence, and walking out of the door.

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The Sun City Diner

Sara listened to Warrick's story without interrupting him once. When he was done, she waited a moment, before gazing up at him. "You said that Tina accused you of not loving her, and that in hindsight, she could be right," she referred him back to his earlier statement.

Warrick nodded, grabbing his glass of coke, and taking a quick swig from it. "Yeah. She might be."

"What makes you think that?" Sara softly asked.

Warrick sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Because before I proposed to her, I did a lot of thinking… a lot of thinking about Nicky. I was so desperate for a family, Sara. I was so desperate to find happiness, before something happens to end my life," he swallowed. "And I was in a relationship with Tina at the time, so… it just made sense to me to propose to her. But—" he trailed off.

"But what?" Sara quietly prompted him.

"Tina was right about one other thing, too."

"Oh?"

Warrick cleared his throat, loosely resting his hands on the table in front of himself. "When I proposed to her, I think I was really in love with someone else."

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TO BE CONTINUED 