Madison Bellows - Well, congratulations! It's taken me since August to read yours and I'm only half way through. Life can get very annoying at times!

Aoife - lol, three hours? I'm impressed! Thank you so much! And I'm glad you like Taylor. Season 3 was brilliant - I think the show just keeps getting better and better

sparkyCSI - I must confess, I'm behind on my writing now. Crazy idea came to me to start another story. But I am remaining adamant that that isn't being posted until this is finished. Which may take a while! I will be online for a while tonight - sickness and sleepiness permitting (although I must have slept all afternoon so I can't see how I could possibly sleep more!)

demolished-soul - I never really played with a ouiji board. Sat outside a graveyard once with a friend with a hand made one when we were little... but chickened out. I have no idea if they really even make them anymore!

Trizzy - Season 4 has completely revived my love for Lindsay, but the comment she made in the last episode regarding... squirrels - i don't want to give away anything if you've not watched it - did make me cringe. Ransom is a great film. I was seriously creeped out by Gary Sinese, which I suppose is a testement to how good an actor he is

meadow567 - lol, I suck, don't I! I'll try not to keep it so long before my next update! Though it's more likely to be Monday, rather than Sunday with the updating!

Alana Xavier1 - There are a few episodes that really get me. This was one of them! And I'm not feeling so guilty with the Slight of Hand references I'm going to use soon!

RK9 - lol, bye Seymour! Well, I have some Tay/Flack in this chapter. Mainly because they're not going to be together for a few chapters after this!

miss wizard of oz - are you calming Danny. or distracting him? lol. Well, he need not worry about me killing him off, that's for sure!

Let's see, still spoilers for Silent Night. And for once I haven't altered this chapter since it was beta'd by my wonderful beta, sparkyCSI!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 137: My mouth is filled with blood from trying not to speak

Taylor glanced over at the car then back to Alison. 'Aiden!' she hissed.

Aiden appeared instantly. 'What's up?'

'As if you don't know,' Taylor hissed. 'If I'm going out there, you're coming with me.'

Aiden shrugged and nodded.

'Thank you,' Taylor muttered, as she stalked over to where Mac was, regretting it instantly as the gun turned at her.

'Taylor what are you doing?' Mac snapped at her.

Taylor gave him a nervous smile and turned her attention to Alison who began moving her hands around so fast it was making Taylor dizzy.

'I don't sign,' Taylor muttered at her from the corner of her mouth. 'Go slower.'

Alison nodded and slowed down the signing so that Taylor could copy.

'I don't believe you!' Cole cried from the car.

Taylor looked at Alison, who in turn, relayed some movements for her to mimic.

'I only wanted what's best for our daughter.'

Taylor quickly copied Alison.

'You were pretending to be her sister. You blocked me from her life.'

Taylor frowned, wondering exactly what it was that Alison was trying to accomplish.

'I didn't want Elizabeth to grow up deaf. To have to live in a world of silence. Like you did. How could you be so stupid? Elizabeth!'

Taylor glanced up to see Flack sweeping the baby up in his arms and dashing off with her as an officer aimed his gun through the window at Cole.

As Cole dropped the gun and was pulled out of the car, Taylor made her way back to the truck, suddenly feeling lightheaded. She opened the door and settled in so that her feet were hanging out but her head was resting against the head rest.

'What was that about?' Flack hissed as he joined her, still holding the now sleeping baby.

'Alison,' Taylor sighed. 'She suits you,' she told him, nodding her head in the direction of Elizabeth.

'Stop changing the subject,' Flack told her.

'Shhhh!' Taylor responded. 'You'll wake her.'

Flack glared at her, trying to work out the best response. In the end, he gave a frustrated grunt and passed Elizabeth over. 'Here. I have to get back to work.'

Taylor's mouth dropped open as Flack pretty much dumped the baby in her arms. 'Hey!'

Flack looked at her. 'Shhhh! You'll wake her,' he informed her with a sly grin.

Taylor glanced down at the sleeping baby, feeling really awkward.

'She won't break, you know.'

Taylor looked up and found Gina staring at her. 'I'm not willing to take that risk.'

Gina smiled and took Elizabeth back. 'You see her, don't you?'

Taylor stared at her, wondering if there was any way she wasn't talking about Alison. 'Yeah,' she sighed, when she realized there wasn't.

Gina looked surprised. 'Really?'

Taylor slowly nodded her head. 'She needed my help.'

'Thank you,' she smiled as her husband came running over.

'You're welcome, Taylor muttered, sinking wearily into the seat.

-------------------------------

Marty was out when Taylor was dropped off – Flack still had to do paperwork and interview Cole, though he promised her they would do something the following evening.

She was in the kitchen, saying goodbye to Alison when someone knocked on the door. She wandered over to the door and glanced through the peephole. Seeing a hesitant Lindsay, she pulled the door open. 'Lindsay?'

'I need to… I was hoping… can we talk?'

Taylor nodded, stepping back to let Lindsay in. 'What's the matter, Lindsay?' she asked patiently.

Lindsay looked down at the floor. 'I don't have very many friends in this city, and the few that I do have, I've been doing my damnedest to push away. But, um, I kinda need a friend right now. Someone who doesn't work at the lab – and that pretty much leaves you.'

'Is something wrong?' Taylor asked her, growing worried.

Lindsay nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. Unable to answer, she pulled a worn piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it over.

Taylor opened it up and read. She looked up. 'It's a summons back to Montana.'

Lindsay nodded.

'It says you're the key witness in a murder investigation.'

'I'm the only witness,' Lindsay managed before her voice broke and she began sobbing.

Taylor looked in horror in the woman crying in front of her and did the only thing she could think of – she wrapped her arms around her.

Finally, Lindsay pulled away and sniffed, feeling very embarrassed. 'I'm sorry.'

'Oh no, you don't apologize,' Taylor informed her.

'I guess I owe you an explanation,' Lindsay sighed.

Taylor shook her head. 'The letter was kind of explanation enough. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want.'

Lindsay gave her a watery smile. 'Thanks, but I think it's time I finally told someone.'

Taylor nodded. 'I tell you what, you get comfortable on the couch. I'll pour us some wine.'

'You got anything stronger?'

Taylor frowned. 'Marty has beer, but I think Flack may still have some Jack Daniels here?' she offered.

'Jack,' Lindsay told her. 'Straight.'

Taylor arched her eyebrows, but said nothing. In the back of her cupboard was some Jack Daniels, as she suspected. She poured a glass for Lindsay, and was about to put the bottle back, but changed her mind. After pouring herself a glass of water, she went into the living room and handed the amber liquid over to Lindsay who took a very large mouthful.

'I have two sis… I had two sisters,' Lindsay began. 'We were triplets, actually. Emma was the oldest, then me, then Katy. Katy was the odd one out of us three. She loved riding and horses and was working on the ranch from the age of eight. Well, we all were, but she was the one that did it willingly. Emma and I both were the more studious. Emma wanted to be a math teacher, and whilst I wasn't sure, I knew I wanted to do something with science.'

'When I turned eighteen I married my high school sweetheart, Ryan. The only people there were Emma and Katy, and Katy's boyfriend and Ryan's best friend, Ben. We got married in the little church on campus.'

Taylor's eyes widened. 'You never told me you were married.'

Lindsay gave her a pained smile and took another mouthful of drink. 'Three weeks before our nineteenth birthday we had arranged to go home for the weekend. We were at Montana State, so it wasn't far to go home. Katy wanted to go home and check on her latest foal – she was at college doing equine studies. But we all wanted to go home and check on our mom. She'd had cancer but the doctors had just told her it had gone into remission.'

'I was running late in the science lab. I had a project due in the following Thursday and I wanted to take my results home so I could write it up. So Ryan, Emma and Katy were there waiting in the lab for me along with our friends Phil and Megan. Ben never went to college. He was at home working on his father's ranch.'

'I was doing physics and my experiment involved measuring stopping distances. Basically, the battery ran out so I headed to the store cupboard down the corridor to find a spare. And then I heard the bangs. I've grown up around guns. I know what they sound like. But I froze. I just stood there, clutching the battery. I should have… '

Taylor's mouth dropped open in horror as she struggled to find the words. 'Lindsay… God, I-'

Lindsay shook her head and continued, cutting her off. 'I finally found my feet after the fifth bang and I opened the door just as this man walked past, carrying a gun. He looked right at me. I thought I was going to be next so I shut my eyes. But the only noise I heard was his footsteps walking calmly away. So I ran into the lab. There was blood everywhere. Emma was the closest…'

'I heard a small splutter. It was Katy. I… I… she wasn't breathing when I got to her so I did CPR. I don't know how long I was doing it for but the police arrived with ambulances. They'd had an anonymous call. I don't remember much else until the hospital and my parents arrived. I must have looked like someone who had survived a horror movie,' Lindsay let out a dry laugh. 'I supposed I had.'

'Did anyone…?' Taylor trailed off, unable to ask if anyone had actually managed to live.

Lindsay nodded. 'Katy survived. But she wasn't the same again. She lost so much… she's… it's like she's still eighteen.'

'I'm sorry,' Taylor muttered.

Lindsay took a deep breath, her voice growing shakier. 'Mom's cancer came back soon after the funerals. Two months later we buried her.'

Taylor took one look at Lindsay's tear stained face and scooted over to Lindsay's side, wrapping her arms back around her. 'I dropped out of college that year. Re-enrolled the following year to do chemistry. I knew then that I wanted to find the guy who had done this. There was no explanation or no evidence to say who he was. They wanted me to go into witness protection but I had already changed my name twice. I couldn't do it again. I stuck in Montana as long as I could, but as soon as the offer came up to work in New York, I told my dad I was going.'

'How did they catch him?' Taylor asked out of curiosity.

Lindsay took a deep breath. 'There was a blood sample at the… there – they couldn't match it to anyone until recently when someone with matching alleles popped up in the system.'

'A brother?'

'Daughter,' Lindsay sighed. 'She's a juvie in the system for a B&E. They raided his house – found some journal he had written years ago, detailing how he did it. They found it a couple of months ago.'

Taylor sat back and did the math. 'A couple of months? You mean, when you and Danny…?'

Lindsay nodded.

'That explains so much.'

'I,' Lindsay sighed. 'I was wondering. Would you come back with me?'

Taylor blinked. 'Huh?'

'Back to Montana. For the case. I don't think I can face this alone.'

'Wouldn't Danny be better suited for this?'

Lindsay shook her head. 'I don't want Danny to know. I can't face him yet.'

'You should feel ashamed of something that's not your fault,' Taylor told her.

'I know,' Lindsay muttered. 'But I don't want to bring Nixon into this.'

'If you want me to go, I will,' Taylor promised her. 'The only thing is, I'm not brilliant at flying. So I may not be as conscious as you'd like on the flight out there.'

Lindsay nodded. 'I've heard, and that's fine. Thank you, Taylor. And I'm really sorry.'

'You don't have to apologize,' Taylor told her. 'This wasn't your fault.'

'No, I'm sorry I've been a complete moody bitch recently.'

Taylor smiled. 'Well, yeah, you have, but all is forgiven.'

Lindsay smiled back and got to her feet. 'I should go.'

'You can stay if you want,' Taylor offered. 'I can take the couch.'

'Don't be silly,' Lindsay told her. 'Besides, I need to pack anyway.'

'Pack?' Taylor repeated. 'Pack for what?'

'Going home,' Lindsay explained. 'There's a flight tomorrow morning.'

Taylor blinked. 'Tomorrow morning? As in… tomorrow?'

Lindsay nodded. 'Yeah, I thought you'd have read in that letter that the first day of the trial is the day after tomorrow. Is that a problem?' Lindsay asked in alarm.

Taylor smiled and shook her head. 'Not at all.'

'Thank you so much,' Lindsay gave her a hug. 'I owe you big time. Anyway, I'll call you tomorrow with the details.'

Taylor watched her go in shock. Tomorrow? She was flying tomorrow?!

--------------------------------------

Flack pulled up outside his apartment block, startled to find Taylor pacing back and forth. He leapt out and dashed over. 'Taylor? Are you alright?'

'I was wondering if you'd mind taking a rain check on tomorrow,' she asked him.

Flack frowned. 'You're outside my apartment at some stupid time in the morning to break a date with me?'

Taylor nodded. 'Yeah, I'm kind of going to Montana. Tomorrow morning.'

'And you couldn't have called me to tell me this?'

'I could, but I wanted to see you in person. And besides, I figured you'd maybe stay up all night with me?' she asked him hopefully.

Flack glanced down at her. 'Are you sure it's just the flight that's bothering you?'

Taylor blinked. 'Yeah. Don, this is me – planes and me just don't go together. And I figured that if I stay up all night, some sleeping tablets might knock me out before I can fasten my seatbelt.'

Flack nodded, pushing the door open. 'Out of curiosity, why are you going to Montana?'

Taylor frowned. 'Well, I was told I couldn't let this get back to Danny, so I guess it would be alright if I told you – so don't tell anyone.'

'I won't,' Flack promised.

'Lindsay's got to go back and testify in some case, and she wants me to go.'

Flack nodded. 'Alright.'

Finally the lift reached Flack's floor and the pair stepped out and walked to Flack's apartment.

'Have you eaten?' Flack asked suddenly. 'Because I haven't, and I'm starving.'

Taylor shrugged, taking a seat at Flack's breakfast bar. 'I could eat. What do you have in mind?'

'French Toast,' Flack informed her as he began rooting through his cupboards, pulling out the various ingredients and equipment needed. A short while later, he was sitting at the breakfast bar with Taylor and the two were eating the toast.

'Any more rats in your locker?' Taylor asked him, casting him a sideways stare.

Flack dunked his toast in the ketchup (Taylor refused to ask about that one). 'No,' he answered shortly.

'Have you told anyone about that?'

Flack put his fork down.' What do you expect anyone to do? It'll pass in a few weeks. Until then, I can handle it.'

Taylor sighed. 'You shouldn't have to. And I was thinking… about your parents.'

Flack just stared at her.

'Maybe we should invite them around for dinner, when I get back from Montana.'

'You want to murder my parents?' Flack cried incredulously.

Taylor's mouth dropped open. 'What? No!'

Flack laughed. 'I was messing with you.'

Taylor pouted. 'It's not funny, you know. So I suck at cooking? I can't be the only person in the world who-'

Flack held his hand over her mouth, cutting her off. 'Taylor, relax. But I'm not sure that inviting my parents around for dinner is such a good idea.'

Taylor sat back in her chair, running her hand through her hair. 'I figured, maybe if they got to know me, maybe I could change their mind.'

'It's not that,' Flack informed her, grabbing her hand which was fidgeting with her hair. 'Dad's pissed about the Truby thing.'

'You know,' Taylor mused as the two of them attacked the washing. 'Maybe I could invite some of your co-workers around for a meal. It's not murder if you accidentally killed them with your cooking, is it?'

Flack laughed. 'I think that's called death by poison.'

Taylor's mouth dropped open in mock horror. 'You're comparing my cooking to poisoning?' she asked, flinging a handful of soap suds at him. And then she cracked up laughing at the sight of the bubbles dripping of Flack's nose.

Flack arched an eyebrow at her. 'Was that a declaration of war?'

Taylor quickly threw her hands in the air. 'No, and if it was, I surrender. Because you have the height advantage, and let's face it you'd win.'

Flack smirked. 'Right answer.'

----------------------------------------

Taylor shifted, yawning. They had just finished watching a film and she could feel herself nodding off as she rested on Flack, her head rising almost therapeutically with the rise and fall of his chest.

'You're still awake then?' he murmured.

'Yeah,' Taylor nodded, sitting upright and switching a lamp on. She blinked in the sudden light, and as her eyes became adjusted, they fell on a guitar standing in the corner of the room. 'Do you even play that?' she asked him.

'Play what?' Flack asked her sitting up. 'Oh, that,' he muttered as he realized what she was talking about. 'A little.'

Taylor smiled at him. She was almost certain he was turning slightly pink. 'Will you play something for me?'

This time, Flack definitely flushed, his face turning an interesting shade of crimson. 'Not now.'

Taylor bit back a laugh – his embarrassment was cute. 'Why not?'

'Because I'm not that good,' he told her so quietly, she barely heard him.

'Please?'

Flack sighed. 'Even if I wanted to, I couldn't.'

'Why not?'

'I hurt my fingers,' he told her, waving his hand as quickly as he could.

Taylor grabbed the hand, which he instantly tried to pull back from her. She kept her grip and pulled so that he too moved towards her, and moved it so that she could see it in the light. Across the base of his four fingers was a thin, straight welt, which actually looked quite painful.

'What the hell did you do to yourself, rescuing Elizabeth?' Taylor cried.

Flack finally snatched his hand back. 'It's nothing.'

Taylor stared scrutinizing him. 'The fact that you're saying it's nothing, means it is. And you didn't do that saving a baby.'

Flack looked away. 'I accidentally got it caught in giant mouse trap.'

'A giant mouse trap?' Taylor repeated in confusion. And then the penny dropped. 'You mean a giant rat trap, don't you?' Without waiting for an answer, she was on her feet, storming towards the door.

Flack was on his feet after her. 'Taylor!' he cried, grabbing her arm. 'Where are you going?'

'To tell your captain that unless he wants to lose half of his detectives, that he needs to sort this out,' Taylor fumed.

Flack stared at her and smiled, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her. 'Taylor, it's not that bad. We're not actually to the point of murder.'

'I am.' Her voice came out all muffled from where it was buried in his shirt.

Flack looked down and frowned. 'Tay? Are you… crying?'

'No,' came Taylor's muffled response.

'Really?' Flack asked, stepping back to look at her.

Taylor stared defiantly back at him. 'No, I'm not crying. I was cursing under my breath in several languages.'

'Why?'

'Why? Why?' Taylor repeated in disbelief. 'Because I'm mad, Don. No, wait. I'm not mad, I'm fuming!'

Flack took a break. 'Why?' He couldn't work out if Taylor was about to explode or cry, now.

'Because earlier, all I could think about was you playing hero, when you could have gotten your head blown off. And I know we had that agreement – that's fine. I'm always going to worry. But it's bad enough that I have to worry about you when you're trying to catch the bad guys – what am I supposed to do when the good guys are the bad guys?' Taylor ranted at him.

Flack winced. 'Tay, I know you're upset, but could you keep your voice down?'

'Don't get patronizing with me, Don,' Taylor snapped at him.

'I'm not! It's just it's nearly-' There was a knock at the door. Flack sighed. 'It's nearly four in the morning and I have neighbors.'

Flack hurried over to the door and pulled it open.

'Flack!' his neighbor barked at him. 'It's-'

'I'm sorry,' Flack quickly apologized, cutting him off.

As soon as he had reassured his neighbor that he would keep the noise down, he hurried back to Taylor and ushered her into the kitchen.

'I'm sorry,' Taylor muttered, walking over to the sink. She gripped at the side, keeping her arms straight, and stared out at the black windows of the apartment building opposite. 'I don't want to constantly fight with you. It's just that these people are your colleagues – your friends – and they're being… jerks!' she told him. 'It's pathetic and childish.'

Flack walked up behind her, slipping his hands around her waist and pulling her to him, resting his cheek against the side of her head. 'I know. They're just pissed. At least they're not taking shots at me.'

'That's not funny,' Taylor responded.

'Look, I'm sure that by the time you get back from Montana, it will all have died down.'

'And what if it hasn't?' Taylor asked, meeting his eyes in their reflection.

'Then I will go talk to my chief,' Flack promised. 'Are you sure you don't want to try to get a couple of hours sleep?' he asked, changing the subject.

Taylor shook her head. 'I want to pass out on that plane from exhaustion – not anything else.'

'And you keep calling me a doofas,' Flack muttered into her hair.

Sorry this never went up yesterday. I have a feeling all the work I've been doing caught up on me as I've spent the past two days ill in bed. I even had to leave work yesterday - and this is coming from the girl who will "dj" with a migraine! Ah well. I shall be better soon - I refuse to remain ill. It's inconvenient!