CHAPTER ONE

The next evening in the lab, Charlotte sat behind her desk, signing the last of her paper work. When she was done, she leaned back in her chair, and with a satisfying smile on her face, she recalled the events of how she stole Gil from Sara.

Charlotte was staying late in her office, reading some article in psychology when Gil entered and closed the door behind him. He had worked a really bad case that night, solo, and he wanted to talk about it so badly to someone other than Sara because he knew exactly how his wife would react to such a case. It involved three badly abused children, whose one of is a toddler, tortured to death. That tragic scene shook Gil to his very core. He couldn't take the horrible images out of his mind. Every time he closed his eyes, he would see three children, who none of was above the age of four. So he really needed to talk about it to someone before it burned him out. Brass would have been his first choice if he wasn't out of the state, vacationing for a couple of weeks. The team, excluding Sara, would have been his second choice if they were not at home, sleeping soundly due to the exhaustion from the triple they pulled. So, that left him with Charlotte.

He moved to the two chairs across Charlotte's desk and sat on one of them.

"Hi." Gil said, smiling.

"Hey. Are you ok, Grissom ? You look distressed." Charlotte observed, with a hint of concern in her voice.

"I am. I worked this horrible case last night and it really got under my skin. I tried very hard to get those brutal images out of my mind but I couldn't. Every time I close my eyes I see those helpless infants laying lifelessly on the ground with bruises and cuts and burn marks covering their tiny bodies. I mean, who could be cruel enough to do that to powerless, innocent children?" Gil sighed sadly.

Charlotte smiled mischievously as she realized that that would be her perfect moment to act on her plan. "It's going to be okay, Grissom. I have the perfect treatment for you. After that, everything's going to be alright, I promise." she smiled and stood up, moving to the chair across from Gil and sat on it so that she could face him.

And with that, she hypnotized him, ordering him in his state of hypnosis to despise Sara and take her, instead. She wanted him to let her into his heart while throwing Sara out. She wanted Sara to pay for abandoning her all those years ago. Ever since Sara left her for Gil.

And from that moment, Gil Grissom was never the same. Just as the memory started to fade while reality took over, Charlotte heard her office door open and saw Gil enter and close the door behind him. She smiled and stood up as he approached her. She put her long arms around his neck, and when he grinned at her, her smile broadened.

"I've missed you." he said softly, cupping her face gently.

"Me, too." she replied.

Just then, Charlotte saw Sara passing her office through the glass wall, which was to Grissom's back. And the minute Sara turned her head to Charlotte's office, Charlotte kissed Gil passionately, which made Sara freeze in her tracks, watching the great passion between her lover and who used to be her best friend. Seeing the unshed tears that were about to fall from Sara's eyes, Charlotte deepened the kiss, even more, if possible.

Satisfied with Sara's reaction, Charlotte prolonged the kiss until she saw her leave. The knowledge of her burning Sara's heart made her very content.

CSI GSR CSI GSR CSI

After spending a half hour in a bathroom stall, sobbing, Sara went to the break room as the nightshift was about to start and Gil was coming soon to hand out the assignments. Sara's eyes were red rimmed from crying for so long but she didn't care if the whole team knew she had been doing so. It wasn't like no one knew about Gil's infidelity with Charlotte and their relationship. The whole lab knew about it. And the whole lab treated Gil with the least respect they could manage, ever since they found out.

Sara went to the break room, and just as she expected, the entire team was waiting for Grissom to come and hand out the assignments of the night. She made her way to the table and sat between Warrick and Greg.

Warrick looked at her and saw those red eyes. " You okay, girl? What's wrong?"

Sara just looked at him and smiled sweetly, content how much the team, who were more of a family to her, cared about her.

"So obvious, man, it's the usual. Grissom must've broken her heart again." said Nick angrily, furious at Grissom.

Greg got mad, too. "That man must be taught a real lesson."

Both Warrick and Nick nodded while Catherine reached for Sara's hand, squeezing it gently before smiling softly at her, offering her support.

Sara returned the smile and before anyone could say anything else, Gil entered the break room. But he was not alone.

Charlotte was by his side. They were holding hands all the way from Charlotte's office to the break room. Sara pretended she did not notice the intimacy of the act, but everyone in that room knew her better. The intimate act did not go unnoticed on the entire team either, which made them all more furious at Gil.

Catherine, who was still holding Sara's hand, squeezed it once again before glaring at the new couple in front of her. "What's she doing here?" she asked Gil harshly.

Before Gil could answer Catherine's question, Charlotte defended herself. "Relax Catherine, I'm just here to grab a coffee, and FYI, this is my lab too."

And before anyone else in the room had the chance to say anything back to Charlotte, Grissom spoke up announcing the assignments. "Warrick, you and Nick have a murder/suicide at the Bellagio." he handed Warrick the slip. "Catherine and Greg, you two are with me, we have multiple homicide in Henderson." handing Catherine the slip before turning to Sara. "And Sara, you're solo. Brass is already waiting at Lake Mead, so don't keep him waiting." he turned and left the room without another word, leaving behind four sets of glaring eyes.

He didn't even bother to move to her to hand her her slip, he simply placed it on the table they were gathered around, and just like that, he left the room. Reaching over the table, Sara picked up the slip. She was stunned when she read the type of case Gil had assigned her to. DECOMP. She wondered if Gil purposely gave her that case to punish her, or he just miscalculated whose turn it was. It was supposed to be Warrick's turn since she had the last one.

"What's your case, buttercup?" Nick asked as he put his arm around her shoulders, soothing her.

"A decomp." she answered quietly.

Warrick turned to her. "A decomp? Isn't it supposed to be my turn? I'm gonna go tell Grissom I'll be switching cases with you." he started to get up but Sara's hand on his arm stopped him.

"It's okay, Warrick, I don't mind, really." she smiled at him, appreciating his overprotectiveness towards her.

"Okay, cookie. But in that case, I owe you one." he said.

"Don't think I won't collect it." she shot back, smiling at him.

They all smiled back at her and got to work.

A/N: Thank you again, guys, for the outstanding review. I love you all :D