meadow567 - lol, I'm glad you think that - I've been having some fun writing it!

Madison Bellows - Pairing, I dunno, something new! lol. I don't mind! I can't work out whether to change her name, or keep it. I'm just refering to her by her surname at the moment (:s) It's the very same Bosco - characters have been popping up all over the place (I was being too lazy to create my own.) I am going to catch up soon, I promise!

Aphina - I swear my plot bunnies went mad - I think Taylor's life is generally chaotic. I'm going to have a bit of a relaxing time come up for her!

miss wizzard of oz - glad to hear! And I'm happy you're liking it too!

RK9 - Don't worry about it - RL gets in the way for me all the time! I didn't expect Cordelia to play as big a role as she has, but she's grown on me too! (Don't worry about Marty!)

sparkyCSI - Hahahahah - I have no idea where that came from, but we all know I'm crazy! It's been so long since I've written, I had to go back and remind myself!

demolished-soul - It was a request from the 1500th (I can't believe there's been that many!) reviewer! Just this chapter left on it - then the case is gone!

Not much to say other than a million thanks to my incredibly patient beta, sparkyCSI!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 158: You're the devil in disguise

Taylor awoke the following morning feeling like she had barely slept at all. The bizarre dreams of being chased down corridors had kept her tossing on the couch until the early morning. She groaned and rolled over, staring at the green LED display of the VCR which almost obnoxiously telling her that it was nearly nine.

Taylor leapt to her feet in horror as she realized that there was no way of stopping Cordelia being late for school. She tore into the bedroom, freezing when she realized that its only occupant was a pig staring beseechingly at her from the bed. She turned around and ran into the kitchen, spotting the note on the fridge straight away.

Took Cordelia in on my way to work. Try to get some sleep, and try not to worry. Marty will be fine. I'll see you later.

Taylor sank back against the counter staring at the note, breathing a sigh of relief.

And then the three ghosts appeared.

Taylor looked over at them with a frown. 'You are so lucky Cordelia isn't here,' she muttered under her breath.

'He used me,' Devon told her, managing to look upset that Taylor had spoke before she had.

Taylor stared at her and sighed. 'Who used you?' she asked, knowing it was a futile attempt.

'He used me!' she roared, swiping at the breakfast bowls Flack had washed on the sideboard, sending them flying to the floor with a crash.

Fuming, Taylor leapt to her feet and stormed over to a cupboard, pulling out a salt shaker. 'Either you calm down, or you're getting this in the face,' she told the ghost threateningly, as Aiden struggled to keep a hold of her.

'You can't really threaten them like that,' Maddy chastised her. 'She's dead.'

'So are you,' Taylor pointed out. 'But I don't see you destroying my plates.'

'She's angry,' Aiden offered as Devon calmed somewhat.

'So am I!' Taylor told them. 'I am trying, okay!'

Devon broke free of Aiden's grasp and swiped at the counter again, this time sending a cookbook (purely decorative, of course) flying.

Taylor looked down at the book lying open at the recipe for lamb casserole, and saw red. 'Get. Out.' She told Devon through gritted teeth. 'Get. Out. Now. And don't come back until you can give me something useful.'

There was a knock at the door, and Taylor flicked her eyes over. When she looked back to where the ghosts were, they were gone. Still furious, she stalked over to the door and flung it open with an angry, 'What?'

Danny looked at her, startled. 'Drew, you look like crap.'

Taylor growled at him but stepped back to allow him, Lindsay and Sheldon in. She looked down at the boxes they were all struggling slightly with and arched her eyebrow at them.

'Danny told us what you discovered yesterday,' Hawkes explained.

'And as we couldn't do this in the lab, we're coming here because Sgt. Flack isn't likely to,' Lindsay added.

Taylor pulled open one of the boxes they had put down on the table. 'You're going to save Marty by reading tabloid papers and gossip magazines?' she asked incredulously.

'Yup,' Danny agreed proudly.

Taylor stared at him, baffled. 'What?' she finally managed.

'It's so simple, it's genius,' Danny added.

Lindsay managed a smile. 'Actually, it is.'

'Huh?'

Sheldon pulled out a magazine and threw it open. 'What do you see?'

Taylor looked at the page in question. 'Lindsay Lohan got thrown out of a club.' She looked up at them. 'That's nothing new, and as the magazine is months old, I don't see how we can get Lindsay Lohan to be an alibi for Marty.'

'And the bit below?' Danny pressed.

Taylor looked back down. 'Paris Hilton with Paris Latsis and the handbag dog of hers.'

'Exactly,' Danny beamed.

Slowly, understanding washed over Taylor. 'Oh!' she exclaimed. 'She's an "it" girl so all of her antics and whoever she's been dating will be in the papers! That is genius.'

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

By mid afternoon, the furthest any of them had moved was to the door to pay the pizza delivery man. Taylor finished scrawling a note in her notebook and then dropped the magazine she had been reading onto one of the growing 'read' piles. She got to her feet and stretched out her back before grabbing another magazine and dropping back onto the couch. Beside her, Lindsay did the same thing.

'I think I've lost a few IQ points,' Sheldon grumbled.

'That's probably because this room isn't Feng Shui'd enough.' Danny muttered.

Taylor snorted. 'It isn't what?'

Danny threw the magazine onto the pile. 'Yeah, I'm losing IQ points too.'

'I think I can tell you every person that Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Nicole Richie have slept with, the combine weight of the Olsen Twins, and exactly who has had Britney's kids since the first was born,' Lindsay sighed gloomily as the others voiced their dismal agreements.

Taylor sighed and turned the page, her mouth falling open as she spotted a picture of… herself. 'What the hell?'

'You find something?' Danny asked hopefully.

'Yeah,' Taylor frowned. 'Me.' She looked up to catch the three CSIs sharing a look. 'What?' she demanded.

'Taylor, you've been appearing in them since,' Lindsay frowned. 'Well, since that picture of you appeared in Time Square.'

'Uh huh, but this says I was held for questioning over the Bond Burglaries, and that I was looking cozy with Roberto Stasinopoulos at the benefit,' she said, holding up the picture of her talking to a dark haired man with a large nose. 'We were talking about Greece – the country, not the film.' She pulled her glasses off and squinted at the picture, frowning at how thin she was in it.

'I give up,' Lindsay grumbled flopping back against the couch. 'I'm going cross-eyed.'

Danny leant back against the wall, mimicking her actions. 'You got anything?'

'A lot,' Taylor reported. 'But I think we can rule out Pete Wentz, Chad Michael Murray and Prince William.'

'We can throw Tom Hanks and Lindsay Lohan to that list too.'

'She gets around,' Sheldon whistled.

'Who? Devon, or Lindsay Lohan?' Taylor smirked, rising to her feet and heading to the kitchen. She was pulling a few cans of Pepsi out of the fridge when Devon reappeared.

'He used me!'

'Narrow it down,' Taylor told her pleasantly, ducking as a spoon from the side went sailing over her head. 'Alright,' she said, holding her hand up. 'That was a little uncalled for, I admit. But who? You can't be talking about Marty!'

The cookbook went flying onto the floor again, landing back on the page for lamb casserole. 'He used me!' Devon shrieked, pointing at the page.

Taylor looked up at Maddy and Aiden. 'For Christmas, I would really, really like a ghost dictionary.' She headed back into her living room. 'Are there any chefs on these lists?' she asked.

Danny and Sheldon looked at theirs but Lindsay stared at her. 'Huh?'

Taylor raised her shoulders and pulled a face.

'Nope,' Danny told her.

'I have Gordon Ramsey,' Hawkes offered.

'Really?' Taylor asked, amazed. She shook her head. 'What about someone with the name Lamb?'

The three shook their heads. 'Nope,' Lindsay said.

Taylor frowned. 'Any other ideas?'

'You might want to explain that a little better,' Hawkes suggested.

'Devon keeps showing me a recipe for lamb casserole,' Taylor sighed, thoughtfully.

Danny frowned. 'I've got a Darren Grainger.'

'And who would he be?' Taylor asked.

'Drafted for the St. Louis Rams, fresh out of the University of Missouri.'

Taylor's eyes lit up. 'Which would make him 21, 22?'

Danny nodded. 'And younger than Devon.'

'And Devon's father is the owner of the Rams,' Taylor grinned before it turned quickly into a frown. 'Only, how do we prove he was in New York?'

Danny and Lindsay stared at each other. 'Taylor!' Danny exclaimed. 'The Rams are in the city this week for a charity game against the Giants.'

Taylor let out a satisfied sigh and sank into the couch, grinning. 'We rock!'

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

Taylor was pacing up and down the living room, Wilbur trotting back and forth with her, whilst Cordelia sat on the couch reading one of the Harry Potters. Danny, Lindsay and Hawkes had returned to the crime lab, whilst Taylor had gone to collect Cordelia, and she was now waiting impatiently for news.

Finally, there was the sound of a key turning in a lock and Taylor dashed into the kitchen in time to find Marty and Flack. 'Oh, thank God,' she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Marty.

'No, I think I should be thanking you,' Marty grinned, hugging her back.

'Danny helped a lot. And Devon, in her own, weird way.'

Marty pulled back and looked at her fully. 'Thank you, Taylor.'

'What happened?' Taylor asked, looking from him to Flack.

'Danny went to Mac with the evidence, Mac went to my dad, and Grainger was arrested.'

'Did he say why he did it?' Taylor asked.

Marty headed to the fridge and removed a beer from it. 'Well, Grainger was sleeping with Devon whilst she was with me, and he did it so that he could make starter.'

'Seriously?' Taylor asked in disbelief.

Flack shrugged. 'Better excuse than I've heard from a lot of people,' he said, accepting the bottle Marty was offering.

'Taylor?'

Taylor looked at Marty. 'Yeah?'

'Why is there a piglet at your feet?'

Taylor snorted back a giggle. 'That's Wilbur.'

'Yeah,' Marty nodded. 'And why do we have a pig?'

'He's Cordelia's,' Taylor explained.

Marty cocked his head and looked at the doorway behind Taylor. 'And I take it that's your niece?' he asked, pointing with his bottle.

Taylor half turned and nodded. 'Cordy, this is Marty.'

Cordelia smiled shyly and then disappeared back into the living room.

'She doesn't really say much,' Taylor muttered.

'She does,' Flack said, surprised. 'I couldn't get her to shut up when I took her to school this morning.'

Taylor's mouth dropped open. 'I beg your pardon? Are we talking about the same child?'

Flack nodded. 'All she could talk about was some kids called Ruben and Kenny.'

'Great,' Taylor muttered, slumping heavily into one of the chairs at the table.

'Tay, you do realize she probably doesn't trust you,' Marty pointed out.

'Why not?' Taylor demanded.

'She got dumped by her mother, and then by her grandmother,' Marty shrugged. 'She's probably worried you're going to do the same thing. If her friends are Ruben and Kenny, I'm guessing they're not girls either.'

'I hadn't thought of that,' Taylor sighed.

'You'll be fine,' Marty told her reassuringly. 'You're just going to have to give it time.'

Taylor nodded. 'Look, why don't you two go and sit down in the there with her, where it's comfortable. I'll pour myself a drink and be back in a minute.'

The two men disappeared leaving Taylor alone with Wilbur. Which lasted thirty seconds until Wilbur dashed squealing into the living room at the sight of Maddy and Aiden and Devon (now dressed in white) appearing in the middle of her kitchen.

'Hi,' Taylor said shortly.

Devon stared petulantly at her until she received a sharp jab in the ribs from Maddy. 'I'm sorry,' she said.

'For what?' Taylor asked her. 'Accusing me of having an affair with him, or for trying to launch things at my head every time you saw me?'

Devon pouted. 'It wasn't every time.'

'And that makes it alright, does it?' Taylor asked, arms firmly folded across her chest.

'Defensive much?' Devon retorted. 'God, sor-reee.'

Taylor rolled her eyes, before focusing on Maddy and Aiden. 'Can we hurry this along? American Idol will be starting soon.'

Maddy wrinkled her nose. 'Since when do you watch American I… Oh.' She gave Devon another poke.

Devon let out an exasperated sigh. 'Thank you,' she said. She sighed. 'I did like Marty, you know?'

'I'm sure,' Taylor replied, dryly. She rose to her feet and headed for the living room. 'You're welcome,' she threw over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.