SEASON 4 SPOILER WARNING -

WARNING: This chapter contains spoilers from 4x03; You Only Die Once. If you don't want any spoilers, don't read until chapter 150 is posted. That's the next one!

bad2wolf2mcgee - I can understand the boycotting of OC stories, so don't worry! I am glad you decided to give this a read, though, and even happier that you like it! Your review put a smile on my face - much needed after the day I've had, so thank you!

CharmedMummy - I had far too much fun writing these chapters. Yuppers on the Shane Casey arc - you're not off base. I just have to throw... something else... into the mix! (:P)

Aphina - I really think I should give Taylor a break... Shame I'm not going to though. She is a little stressed though. That being said, she's taking it better than me. Although, if I had a Flack to come home to...

RK9 - He's already on the train - let me know you get him safely! lol. I guess I thought I'd mentioned it enough. But I know my character, so when I see her in my head - as I see the story, she's like a character already there. Wow, I have no idea if that made sense. Lets try again - in my head, she's as real as say, Stella, or Danny, and I do the bad thing of assuming that everyone else sees her to. Bad author!

demolished-soul - there is a happy ending to this chapter! (:P) I have her for another couple of chapters, but she shall be leaving. I just have to refrain from allowing my muse from pushing her in front of a bus. I hope the homework got done!

sparkyCSI - the muse has too much going on. I have plans for Sinclair, so he will be around, but I'm not going down the mac storyline yet! I had a lot of fun writing that - and much was written when it aired!

miss wizard of oz - that's true. He can see Aiden too, when she makes an appearence. I'm a sucker for irony.

meadow567 - glad you liked! Yeah, i decided to go down the football route. Flack is more of the hockey fan, and Marty is more football... at least in my head, anyway!

SO, yeah, spoilers for 4x03 - although I'm sure you've worked this out by now! And there are still many thanks to sparkyCSI for finding all my mistakes!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 149: It's all over the front page

'Seriously. The Mach Five does not come close to the Batmobile. End of story,' Danny declared, placing the piece of metal Taylor had seen him hurry down the corridor with earlier, away.

Taylor sat down opposite him and Lindsay.

Lindsay looked shocked. 'Are you kidding me? The Mach five had submersible capabilities, and a robotic homing pigeon.'

Danny nodded. 'Yeah. So did the Batmobile. Along with rocket boosters, and armor plating.'

'Excuse me,' said Taylor loudly. The two looked up. 'Hello! KITT. He was, and is, the coolest car, ever. He could talk!'

Lindsay looked at her, slightly surprised, then shrugged. 'Mach Five, rotary saw.'

'KITT. Flame thrower.'

'The Mach Five could jump over holes.'

Taylor's mouth dropped open. 'So could KITT. And KITT could sniff out bombs.'

'Alright then, Montana. Did the Mach Five have a field forensics kit?' Danny asked.

'The Batmobile did not have a field forensics kit,' both Taylor and Lindsay declared.

Danny nodded. 'In the Batmobile's trunk it did.'

'That explains so much,' Lindsay muttered, shaking her head.

'KITT could also-'

'Taylor,' Lindsay began, looking at her as though seeing her for the first time. 'Are you going somewhere? Only, that's a really nice dress to be wearing in the lab.'

Taylor looked down at the slightly ruffled evening dress she was still wearing. 'Room is a crime scene. I'm wearing this until nine.'

Danny laughed. 'What happens then? Does it turn back into a pumpkin?'

Taylor shot him a scathing look. 'No. It's when I'm going running with Sheldon.'

'Well you want to start now,' Danny told her, grinning as he held up his watch for her to see.

Taylor swore, leaping off the stool she had been perched on. She took two steps and then stopped, leant over, undid her shoes, and pulled them off.

'What are you doing?' Danny asked her.

'I run faster without them,' she managed to yell at him before she ran out of the lab, barefoot.

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Taylor was exhausted. She and Hawkes had just run, what felt like, the perimeter of the island. It was more like a couple dozen blocks of mercifully empty streets, but Taylor knew for certain she was going to sleep well.

'You heading back to yours?' Sheldon asked her.

Taylor shook her head. 'Don's.'

Hawkes nodded. 'Come on, let's get you there.'

'And what about you?' Taylor frowned. 'You live in the opposite direction.'

'I'll be fine,' he told her.

'So will I,' Taylor objected. 'I'm perfectly capable of…' she trailed off. 'Fine.'

Hawkes smiled. 'It's only going to be for a while, anyway.'

Taylor glanced sideways at him before dodging around a couple who were enjoying an evening stroll. 'Why?'

'I'm moving next weekend.'

'You need a hand?' Taylor offered.

Hawkes smiled. 'I may take you up on that one,' he accepted as they slowed to a walk, a couple of blocks from Flack's apartment.

'Let me know. I even decorate.'

Hawkes forced a smile, thinking of Taylor's cooking skills and thinking they were probably in the same league. 'I'll bear that in mind.'

The pair said goodbye and Taylor trudged into the lift, knowing as she did, she probably should have taken the stairs, but she was too exhausted to care. She dove into the shower, dried her hair, and then crept into bed where Flack was already asleep.

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Taylor rolled over, feeling a large cold spot, rather than a warm and inviting body, and peeked her eyes open.

'Did I wake you?' Flack asked, staring at her via his reflection from where he was standing, tying his tie in the mirror.

'No,' Taylor yawned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. 'What time is it?'

'Early,' Flack told her.

'And you're up this early, because?'

'We got a lead on James Stanton.'

'And he would be?'

Flack walked over and sat down next to her on the bed. 'Our cat burglar.'

'Please tell me it involves a car?' Taylor muttered, slumping back onto the pillows.

Flack glanced up, spotting Maddy. 'Danny found a number – yes, it involves a car.'

'Good.'

Flack leant over and kissed her forehead before standing and making to leave.

'Hey, Don?'

He stopped and turned. 'What?'

'How long is my room going to be a crime scene?'

Flack smiled. 'I'm sure that if you want to go grab some clothes, that would be fine. I'll see you later. Bye, Maddy,' he added, before disappearing from the room.

Taylor sighed and sat up, catching the disapproving glare from Maddy and James. 'What?' she demanded. 'I am not turning up to the lab wearing the same dress I had to wear yesterday!'

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It was a little after eight when Taylor stepped into her own apartment, already thankful for the air conditioning – it was proving to be another scorcher already. She quickly secured her hair into messy plaits, and found a plain white tank top, denim mini, and her flip flops. Pouring herself a glass of orange juice, she settled down at the table and began leafing through her mail. The majority looked like bills. Except one.

She opened it, her forehead creased into a firm scowl. 'Sassone? What do you want now?' She took a deep breath and shut her eyes, clutching tightly to the paper in her hands. He's in jail. What exactly can he do? And what exactly does he want with me? She brought her fist to her mouth and exhaled slowly.

And then the door flinging open with a bang, caused her to leap to her feet as Marty and Devon appeared, entangled in each other. Marty pushed Devon away as he spotted Taylor staring at them like she was midst a heart attack. 'Sorry, Taylor,' he quickly apologized. 'I wasn't expecting you to be up so early.'

Taylor took a couple of breaths. The pair looked like they had just gotten in from another party, judging from Marty's new suit, and Devon's pink gown. 'Hi,' she greeted them, lamely.

'Devon's apartment is still off limits.'

'It's alright,' Taylor told them. 'I was just leaving anyway.' She thrust Sassone's letter into her pocket and made for the door.

'Taylor!' Devon called after her.

Taylor turned, hesitantly.

'It's the Mayor's benefit tonight. You're coming.'

Taylor froze. 'I can't. I, uh… work,' she finished unconvincingly. Before either could comment, she left.

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'That's pretty,' Taylor told Lindsay as she walked into the lab, spotting the various containers on the top. One had bright red flames, the other had green. 'What are you doing?'

Lindsay sighed, placing lids over the flames to extinguish them. 'Trying to work out what burns with Ethanol to create a blue flame?

'Keep working on it,' Mac told her, joining them in the lab.

And that was when all hell broke loose. The computers started beeping and flickering, the lights began flashing on and off, and Taylor's cell phone began vibrating uncontrollably. She pulled it out of her pocket – no one was ringing or texting. 'What the hell?' she gasped, flinging it on the top.

Hawkes came running in. 'IT have just called. They've alerted security to a firewall breech. Someone is illegally accessing our computer network and it's coming from in here.' He ran over to one of the computers and tried to turn it off. 'It won't shut off.'

Taylor attempted to turn her cell phone off. 'My phone won't either.' She turned it over, took the back of and pulled the battery out. It finally lay limp in her hands.

'Shut off all computers and electronics!' Mac barked. 'Shut them down now!'

Hawkes ran to the emergency power shut off box and the room fell into darkness. Except the evidence table in the middle of the room.

'Why is the table flickering?' Taylor asked.

Mac looked over at her. 'Taylor, I think maybe you should leave.'

'But…' she trailed off under Mac's glare. 'Fine.'

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If Mac hadn't had thrown her out, Taylor reasoned, she wouldn't be signing into Rikers at that moment, and allowing a guard to lead her to Sassone.

'Miss Turner,' he greeted her with a smile.

Taylor glared at him. 'Sonny,' she returned.

'I'm glad you came.'

'I'm not sure why I did,' Taylor admitted.

'I would presume that you've thought about our arrangement.'

Taylor frowned. 'What arrangement?'

'You getting me out of here.'

Taylor burst out laughing. 'There was no arrangement. There wasn't even anything to consider. You're where you belong and I'm not doing anything to change that.'

Sassone smiled at her. 'I am going to give you one last chance to consider your options.'

Taylor snorted. 'Consider it considered.' She put the phone down and stood. At the door, Sassone was still sitting, smiling at her. With a small shuddered, Taylor hurried out, suddenly wanting to be in the sun to shift the chill that had set in.

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It was the fact Maddy and James joined her in the car on her way back into town that she headed back to the lab. She was tired of him dangling keys in her face.

She found Flack with Stella about to head into one of the observation rooms and she quickly ducked in after them.

'Afternoon, Taylor,' Stella smiled, placing her crutches on the floor as she sat on the table and stared at the person in the interview room.

'Who's that?' Taylor asked, pointing to the man. 'He looks… familiar.'

'He was running that party you attended the other night,' Flack explained. 'Rodriquez,' he added emphasizing the "quez" as "gay".

Taylor arched an eyebrow but didn't comment. 'So, is he one of our guys?'

Stella shook her head. 'He's clean. No trace of Smart Water.'

'And that means?'

'Which means he's not our guy,' said Flack.

'Does that help?'

Stella shrugged. 'We know that James Stanton was a guest at the butterfly party. Maude spotted him arriving around 9pm. We also know Devon's apartment was robbed by James around eleven.'

'He was at mine for midnight,' Taylor added.

Flack nodded. 'James and Gano got into a fight around one thirty. Which means he robbed Devon's spot, tried to get us and then went back to the shindig.'

Taylor frowned slightly. 'It was slightly more formal than a shindig.'

Stella chuckled. 'So we know that the gang uses the party to establish their alibi. And when we first interviewed Rodriguez, he said that he was planning the mayor's benefit. That's tonight.'

'Stanton's partner might be there,' Flack smiled.

Stella nodded. 'You got a tux?'

Taylor couldn't hold back a laugh. 'To what? Cover up your cast?'

Stella looked down and scowled at the incriminating piece of plaster. 'I hate this thing. It can come off now.' She looked up at Taylor and cocked her head, smiling.

'What?' Taylor asked her suspiciously.

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'Flack. Don, Flack,' Flack nodded to the man at the door who was ticking off names.

Taylor held up the press badge around her neck. 'Taylor Turner with the New York Daily.' The pair walked into the room and Taylor glanced at Flack. 'Flack, Don' Flack? You had to, didn't you?'

Flack just grinned. 'You go look that way.'

Taylor pouted. 'Don't I even get a dance?'

'We're working,' Flack told her as he disappeared into the crowds of well dressed people.

Taylor scowled at the camera in her hands. 'At least you're getting paid for it.'

'You know these ear pieces are on, don't you?' Flack's voice boomed into her ear causing her to jump.

'Yes,' she replied haughtily. 'So I just point and click?'

This time it was Stella's voice in her ear. 'It's all set up, so, yeah. Just point and click.'

Stella's genius idea had involved Taylor putting on another fancy dress and pretending to take press photos. Well, she did have a spare dress – long, black and backless, and she did have the press pass – all members of the NY Daily were issued with them. They were trying to find Stanton's partner. And he would supposedly light up like a Broadway show.

Taylor frowned. 'Are the lights supposed to be flickering?' Taylor murmured as she took another photo.

'It means Stanton's partner is here,' Stella told her.

Taylor nodded, then remembering Stella couldn't see her, said, 'okay.' She turned and continued clicking away.

'Taylor?'

Taylor froze. 'Devon?'

'I thought you were working tonight?' Devon asked in an accusatory manor.

'Press pass,' came Flack's voice.

Taylor blinked. 'I am,' she said, holding up the press pass.

'Sack it off,' Devon demanded.

'Huh?' Taylor asked.

'Finish for the evening and come have fun.'

'I can't,' Taylor told her.

'Tell her you'll make it up to her,' cam Stella's voice.

'Let's… do… something…' Taylor offered.

'Wow, that was convincing,' Flack laughed.

Taylor fought to keep the glare off her face.

Devon, however, nodded. 'Later this week. You can come shopping with me.'

Taylor forced the smile again. 'Sure. It's a date.'

'Oh, I'm not gay,' Devon pointed out.

'I wasn't-'

'I'm going to find Martin.' And then she disappeared.

'Martin?'

'Marty,' Taylor sighed. She turned, put the smile back on her face, and continued taking pictures. And then something came up. 'Stella, I think I've got her.'

'Her?'

Taylor nodded. 'A waitress.'

'Maude.'

'Where is she?' Flack

'She's walking towards the roulette.'

Flack, on the other side of the room, stared. 'It's Maude.'

Taylor darted towards her. 'Maude?'

The waitress turned. 'Can I help you?'

Taylor nodded. 'I was just admiring your jacket,' she said, buying time so Flack could get over. 'Who's the designer?'

Maude turned, saw Flack. And ran.

Flack took off after Maude whilst Taylor dashed out of the door to the streets where Stella had been waiting in her GTO. Stella who had been waiting in the passenger seat, leant over and switched the lights and sirens on as Taylor leapt into the driver's seat and allowed the car to squeal off.

'Those lights had better not leave a mark,' Taylor muttered through gritted teeth. Earlier, she had insisted that her car be used – there was no way they were going to catch up with a DBS in a departmental issued Yukon.

She squealed to a halt by Flack who had almost been run over by Maude driving the Aston Martin. They tore down the streets, Taylor managing to keep up with the DBS. "I told you a GTO would keep up," she growled under her breath as she chased after Maude.

Flack, meanwhile, was on the phone to dispatch, telling them to raise the barriers. Taylor hit the brakes, watching in horror as the brake lights on Maude's car refused to come on and she smashed into the pop up barrier. Taylor stared, mouth hanging open. Flack, on the other hand, leapt out of the car and grabbed Maude who had vacated her car and was trying to get away.

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Taylor was back in the crime lab, still in her dress. It was time to put some clothes in that locker. She yawned and sunk into the couch she was sitting on in the break room. Everyone was busy analyzing or questioning someone.

She picked up the paper on the table and stared at the headline. Apparently, Sinclair had a sexual harassment suit filed against him. She frowned and turned to the continuing page inside. It seemed that the information had come from an email.

Taylor put the paper down feeling slightly lightheaded. The tuxedo, when making the lights flicker, was actually downloading information. Taylor had originally thought it was going for bank details – Flack had warned her to cancel her bank cards and change her pin numbers, and she had. She didn't think it could access emails.

Not that the emails were a problem. It was other information she had stored on that laptop. She used it for work – there were names and numbers, witness, and other information she wouldn't want anyone to know how or why she had it.

Surely one of the team would have come to her if they had found anything of hers?

'They killed me.'

Taylor looked up. 'Are you still here?' she asked the dead James Bond wannabe.

'They killed me.'

'And Maude is being questioned now.'

'They killed me,' James repeated. And then he jangled his keys.

'Nice dress,' said Maddy.

Taylor smiled at her. 'Thank you. Personally I preferred the one from the night before.'

'You don't have to snipe,' Maddy moaned.

'You didn't have to appear with the guy who broke into my apartment,' Taylor snapped back.

'They killed me,' James said again, jangling his keys.

'You have no idea what I want to do with those keys right now,' she glowered at him before she stalked out of the room.

Thankfully, she didn't have to go far before she walked into Flack. 'There's someone else.'

'Hello to you too.'

Taylor sighed. 'There's someone else – it's not just Maude.'

Flack nodded. 'I know. It's the guy who modified the car.'

'What?' Taylor looked up at him, blinking.

'You don't actually want me to repeat that, do you,' Flack said slowly, looking like he wanted to back away slowly before Taylor exploded.

Taylor forced a smile. 'I'm going to walk home now.'

'Taylor,' Flack began.

Taylor held a hand up, cutting him off. 'Oh, no,' she said, her smile still on her face. 'The way I'm feeling right now, if anything tried anything, their head would be rolling in seconds.'

'Taylor,' he said again, this time more forcibly.

The smile fell from her face. 'Fine. I'll wait in the break room like a good little girlfriend.'

'Taylor,' he sighed.

But Taylor had already turned and started walking back down the corridor, her heels clicking on the floor.

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'Yo ho ho, homey,' said Maddy, bouncing beside her on the couch. 'Why so glum?'

Taylor sighed and turned to look at her dead best friend. 'Is he done now?' she asked instead of replying, pointing a finger at the now white-clad James.

'Yeah,' he told her, awkwardly. 'I'm sorry about breaking in.'

'No you're not,' Taylor scoffed. 'If you were you wouldn't have done it in the first place.'

'Taylor,' Maddy started.

'What is it with people calling me that?' she asked rolling her eyes.

'It's your name?' Maddy offered.

Taylor just stared at the faux blonde.

'I don't have a choice in who comes to you, you know,' Maddy said, throwing her arms in the air in her defense.

'I know,' Taylor admitted. 'And I know you've still been murdered and that you're still a victim, regardless of what you did before you died,' she added, addressing James. 'But it doesn't mean I'm going to like helping, and it certainly doesn't mean I'm going to do it with a smile. And for that matter,' she continued, 'why, exactly, was I continuing to help when they again knew whodunit?'

James just shrugged at her.

Taylor shut her eyes. 'I'm glad I could help,' she said, finally.

'Thank you,' he told her sincerely.

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It was beginning to get light by the time Flack and Taylor walked into her apartment. Flack gave her a sideways glance. 'Did I tell you how beautiful you look in that dress?'

Taylor looked back, smiling. 'I could say the same thing about the suit.'

In the end, it didn't matter what either was wearing – it was all over the bedroom floor anyway.

End of Season 4 Spoliers... for now.