RK9 - Aw, thank you! lol, congrats on your win though! I've just spent ages having a look/sorting - I've been nominated in quite a few categories - it's so flattering!

demolished-soul - I think so, because I can see Maddy bringing some much needed relief. Sassone and Tanglewood are going down!!

sparkyCSI - You're right. I'm not sure I'd want to see them. Then again, on the flip side, if you were dead, would you want to be caught here and stopped from moving on to whatever the next level is?

meadow567 - here you go - happy to oblige!

princessg - Thank you! And I hope I didn't leave you waiting too long. Tay's gonna start opening up a little in the next few chapters, promise!

Forest Angel - They'll be back together very soon. I'm glad you've enjoyed!

Aphina - Bless, I wanna hug her too. I can be so cruel, can't I?!

laplandgurl - there are that many fics nominated - I have no idea how Shabbs is gonna get the numbers down (I mean, there were 39 suggestions for best author!) so I'm happy it's not me too! I think that eventually, Mac might believe her completely, I just think, that with it being Mac, it would take something big!

Shining Zephyr - I love hearing from new readers (and lurkers - and I fall into that category!). I think that sometimes my life is consumed by this fic, so that's really nice to hear. I know she can be a little Mary Sueish at times, but I just get carried away, so thank you!

So I'm trying something different here - and by that, I mean for me... this has already been done on this board... but I'm borrowing a character of sparkyCSI's - Cory Reid. Check her out in A Time To Heal (and the sequels). And also, much as I would love to, I can't take credit for all of this chapter as part was written by sparky!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 182: Did you ever blame the world but never blame you

The bar was filled with smoke and a decidedly sketchy clientele, but the woman sitting at the bar didn't seem to mind. She was dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans and button down shirt, ignoring the leering of the men and the scathing looks from the woman who were dressed like hookers. She flipped her long red hair over her shoulder, nursing her second beer whilst checking her watch for the umpteenth time. Damn it, he's late again, she thought with a twinge of anger at the man's lack of respect.

Sighing, she had just pulled out her wallet to pay for her drink when a figure slipped onto the stool next to her. 'Hey babe, you're lookin' fine tonight," the man said.

"You're late," she returned. "Damn it, Anthony, you know how hard it is for me to meet you down here. I stick out like a sore thumb from a native New Yorker. You know how hard it is for me to hide my drawl?"

Anthony responded. "Sorry, Cory, but I was detained," he said before dropping his voice. "I have some information for you."

"It'd better be good," the woman name Cory responded, "or I'm pulling you out, Anthony. When I became SSA and took over the Tanglewood case, I expected things to move a bit faster. That was the idea. Bring in someone from the outside who has no ties to New York to bring the gang down faster."

"Yeah, I got that, Agent Reid," he sneered back to her. "Do you want the info for not?"

Cory sighed, her irritation at the man's lack of respect showing a bit. "What do you have?"

"You know the car that just got pulled outta the river?" he said lowly, making sure that the conversation wasn't being overheard. At Cory's almost imperceptible nod he continued, "Word is that is contained the body of Louie Messer?"

Cory furrowed her brow a bit. "Messer…Wasn't he the one that had the big falling out with Sassone a couple of years back? The one that got him arrest for murder?"

Anthony nodded. "Yup. It was an initiation killing. Sassone's been trying to get the writer into the fold and finally convinced her to kill Messer."

Cory's eyes lit up. "Really," she drawled. "I can work with that." She stood up and walked away from the bar and out into the clear night air.

--

Supervisory Special Agent Corrine Reid was sitting in her office, staring in shock at the papers in front of her. "I can't freaking believe it! How can the NYPD allow this? This isn't just crossing the line, this is flying over it with a fighter jet!" she seethed before rising from her desk and clipping her gun to her belt. With confidence, she strode out of her office and within an hour was standing in front of the desk of NYPD Inspector Stanton Gerrard.

"Inspector Gerrard, thank you so much for meeting with me," she said as she shook his hand.

Gerrard nodded to her as he motioned for to sit. "What brings the FBI to my doorstep?"

"The murder of Louie Messer."

Gerrard raised his eyebrows. "And that is important to the FBI how?"

"We've been monitoring the activities in Tanglewood for a long time. Recently I was brought in to help to…provide a pair of fresh eyes on the case. I've had an agent undercover with them for the past year," Cory began to explain.

Gerrard looked at her. "I still don't see why the murder of Louie Messer would be important to you. He has not been a part of Tanglewood since he ratted out Sonny Sassone a year ago."

"I know that, but I do believe that his murder was related to the gang," Cory persisted. "Plus, I think your lab has been compromised."

"What?"

Cory looked at Gerrard, disbelief forming in her eyes. "Come on, Inspector. Why is there a reporter running around the lab unchecked," she said.

"Taylor Turner," he stated baldly.

Cory nodded. "And, said reporter is getting access to crime scenes? Hell, she was accused of drug trafficking. If that's not being compromised then I don't know what is. Plus, from what I've heard, all the signs are pointing to that she is the one that killed Louie Messer. I want this case. I'm going to bring down Tanglewood."

Gerrard looked at her, seeing the resolution in her eyes as well as the fact that her thoughts were mirroring the thoughts that he'd been having about the lab for some time. Finally, he sighed. He hated having to give up jurisdiction over a case. "Okay. You can have the case, but I'll warn you, you are not going to be well liked."

Cory shrugged. "I don't care about being popular; I care about putting the criminals behind bars."

Gerrard nodded. "Follow me."

--

Taylor stepped into the elevator and hit the button before slipping back against the wall, contemplating whether or not she should go see Danny.

Which was when the door pinged open and Flack stepped in. He looked at her, before turning, standing just in front of her, and hit the button for the floor he wanted.

'Hi,' Taylor muttered.

Flack let out a sigh before hitting the emergency stop.

'What the hell are you doing?' Taylor demanded, walking over and slamming her fist on the button. The elevator jerked before continuing its descent.

Flack smacked it again before stepping in front of it and blocking it from Taylor as the lift again jerked to a halt. 'We need to talk.'

'So you decide to stop the freaking elevator?!' Taylor shrieked at him. 'Could you not have just come round?'

'We need to talk,' Flack repeated with a sigh.

'We did. You left.'

Flack nodded. 'Alright. You need to talk. And I need to listen.'

'You walked out.'

'You didn't stop me,' Flack shot back.

'Don, if we have to do this, can we please do it somewhere else, somewhere where there isn't that stupid alarm?' she all but begged him – the lack of sleep, the situation, combined with the ringing of the alarm bell was driving her mad.

'Fine,' Flack conceded, pressing the button again.

'Well, push it,' Taylor told him.

'I have,' Flack told her, slowly.

Taylor stared at him, eyes wide, before she stepped over and began hammering the button.

'Tay, I don't think that's a good idea,' Flack muttered, grabbing her hand.

Taylor glowered up at him. 'I didn't press it in the first place,' she snapped at him.

Flack sighed and hit the emergency call button.

'Security.'

'Hi, yeah, this is Detective Flack. I'm stuck in the elevator.'

'Don't panic, sir. I'll get maintenance out there immediately.'

'Thanks,' Flack muttered, slumping back against the wall.

'Great,' Taylor muttered, leaning against the opposite wall and allowing herself to slide down it so she was sitting on the floor.

--

Mac was sitting behind his desk, his eyes pouring over the crime scene shots of Louie's bloated body in the trunk. Tiredly, he rubbed his eyes, stopping when he noticed a short woman with a determined face making a beeline for his office door. Also accompanied by Gerrard.

With a sigh, he nodded for them to enter and waited patiently.

'Taylor, this is SSA Corrine Reid of the FBI,' Gerrard told him.

Mac nodded calmly. 'The badge gave it away,' he told him, nodding at said item hanging around her neck. 'The question is, why is the FBI in my lab?'

'Agent Reid is taking over the Messer case,' Gerrard shrugged, before walking out of the room, leaving Mac staring at the agent in front of him.

'I'm sorry, Agent Reid, but I cannot see how you could be interested in the murder of one of my morgue attendants, and more to the point, why you feel you should take control of my lab.'

Cory gave him a calm smile. 'Detective Taylor, I have control over this investigation now, and that is something I could choose not to share with you, however in the interest of cooperation, frankly, your lab has become compromised.'

'I beg your pardon?' Mac asked in cold outrage.

'I was assigned lead agent to bring down one of the four major gangs in this city, and what I find is that one of its members is working here in the crime lab, meanwhile, you have an unauthorized person running amok at crime scenes, never mind in the lab. Do you know how many violations that constitutes?'

Mac rose angrily to his feet. 'Agent Reid, the one thing that I value and respect, above all else, is the integrity of this lab and its staff. I resent the implication that this lab has become compromised, Agent Reid, and if you want cooperation, I suggest you talking to me with a little more respect than that.'

Cory stared at him, and then nodded. 'Prove it. Prove to me you haven't become compromised.'

Mac met her steely gaze and nodded. 'Very well.'

Well my eyes are blurry... I've just spent a good three hours copying all the fics nominated in the FFA into a spreadsheet - not including OCs and the individual fics in the series', there are, so far 147 fics! But there are still categories which have yet to have anything nominated. The categories have been finalised so go check them out - nominations end on May 5th!