sparkyCSI - I am so tired! lol. Don't worry about it - I can still miss 'em and I always read something twice. Well, the polls are open...!

meadow567 - No, that's very true. So long as there's demand I'll keep em coming! Well, I think I have to encourage real life to go on holiday, but there we go!

Madison Bellows - I don't know, possibly because I wasn't sure I could do the characters justice, and then I just wasn't sure how they'd fit in. Too be honest, I think the majority of it was done - the polls are up now (:s), but thank you!

Aoife - lol, glad to see that I can still keep you happy. Sad but true, it's the reviews that keep me going - that and for the sake of my own sanity. And I promise they will get back together!!

Thoren - Maybe he's a little annoyed... alright, yeah, he's not happy!

laplandgurl - well you're on the right tracks! It's take me ages, and I really had no big part in it. Now I have the task of trying to create avatars - that will be a mamoth task!

Aphina - See, I like it when Mac gets annoyed too, because I'm not Mac's biggest fan, lol. It was the only way I could think of as to the getting stuck together and talking

demolished-soul - she's a woman on a mission and is just trying to do what's right - she does make a point: really, Tay shouldn't be in that lab! Although it is fun to write!

Forest Angel - I figured it was about time, and I'm hoping her being there will!

Shining Zephyr - I don't either, actually! lol, you certainly do. They're gonna start talking now though, which is always good!

Okely dokely, Cory belongs to sparky, not me - let's just make that clear because I can't take the credit!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 183: Am I too lost to be saved?

Hawkes leant back and rubbed his eyes before swearing softly.

'You alright?' Isabella asked him.

'We have a match on the bullet,' he explained.

'And that's bad how?'

Hawkes sighed. 'The bullet is a match to the gun.'

'Alright,' Isabella said slowly. 'But I'm still not seeing how that's bad.'

'The gun is registered to Taylor.'

Isabella frowned. 'Your boss?'

Hawkes quickly shook his head. 'Taylor Turner – author of-'

'Crime Files,' Isabella finished. 'It was her car I found.'

Hawkes nodded. 'She's a friend.'

Isabella glanced over at the results. 'Look, I found that gun a fair distance from where the car was. It may be completely unrelated. We just have to wait for the DNA to come back on that…'

'DNA evidence which looked suspiciously like brain matter?' Hawkes finished.

Isabella smiled softly. 'Until we get the results, that could be anything.'

'Detective Mendes, I worked in the morgue before I became a CSI. I know what brain matter looks like.'

Isabella shrugged. 'Still doesn't mean it belongs to your friend. And please, it's Isabella.'

Hawkes smiled gratefully at her. 'You're a bit of an optimist, aren't you?'

'Damn straight.'

Hawkes joined her laughter until it was brought abruptly to an end by his pager beeping at him. 'That's Mac. Come on.'

--

Taylor sat on the floor of the elevator staring resolutely at her knees as she rubbed at her temples.

Flack was in the far corner staring up at the lighting in the ceiling.

Neither of them had spoken for the best part of an hour.

'What's taking them so long?' Taylor grumbled.

'Tay, it's only been thirty minutes,' Flack sighed patiently.

Taylor shut her eyes, tapping her knee with her hand. 'Dean was possessed with the spirit of my dead ex boyfriend,' she blurted out.

Flack stared at her, unblinking, but said nothing.

'I bumped into him, Craig. He wanted to meet for dinner to catch up. Except he seemed more intent on getting back together with me. I told him I wasn't interested and left. Then he and Dean got into a fight and Craig ended up dead and possessing Dean and he came after me and that's what you saw.'

'And at the motel?'

Taylor opened her eyes, finding Flack staring at her. 'That was Sam's suggestion. We needed to get Dean in a Devil's Trap.'

'A what?'

--

'I think I've got it this time!' the maintenance guy cried excitedly.

'I hope so, Scott, because this is stupid.'

'You're telling me,' Scott muttered under his breath. 'Fuses should not be shorting like this.'

'Are you sure this isn't dangerous?' Maddy asked Aiden.

Aiden shrugged, sticking her hand through the panel Scott was fixing, causing it to spark again – all of his effort to fix the 'problem' erased in seconds. 'If they start throwing punches, I'll let him fix it.'

Maddy frowned. 'I was referring to the fact they're hovering between the twentieth and twenty first floors. You know – free falling… big squishy mess.'

'Ah, it'll be fine.' She froze, frowning. 'Oh crap.'

'What?' Maddy demanded.

'What the hell?' Scott demanded. 'Mike, they've lost the AC.'

Maddy looked over at Aiden. 'When Taylor finds out, she's gonna murder you.'

'You mean, if.'

'If?' Maddy repeated. 'If is good.'

--

'Where's Lindsay?' Mac asked.

Stella looked around the room, her eyes falling on to the two new women before sweeping back to Mac. 'Not a clue,' she shrugged as Lindsay came bursting through the door.

'Sorry, she apologized. 'The elevator is out of order,' she added breathlessly as she sunk into a spare seat.

Mac nodded. 'This is Detective Mendes,' he said, introducing the blonde. 'She's a diver with the Scuba Team of the Harbor Unit. Isabella will be joining us on this case.'

The other woman, the red head, cleared her throat.

'And this is Supervisory Special Agent Reid with the Dangerous Organizations Squad of the FBI.'

'Feds?' Stella asked suspiciously, eyeing up the short woman.

'Your lab has been compromised,' the SSA told her with a crisp Texan accent.

'I beg your pardon?' Stella asked her disbelievingly.

'I have a UC within the Tanglewood organization. He has reported back to me that the murder of your Medical Assistant, Louis Messer was an initiation rite performed by Taylor Turner.'

'Are you high?' Danny asked her from the doorway.

'Are you?' Cory retorted angrily.

'Danny, you are supposed to be at home,' Mac snapped.

'I heard there might be news,' Danny shrugged.

'Danny, go home,' Mac told him firmly. 'Now.'

'No,' Danny told him, equally as firmly. 'I need to be here, Mac. I can't just sit around doing nothing.'

Mac pursed his lips, staring at the younger man who looked close to breaking point. 'If you take one step into a lab, lay one finger on any piece of evidence relevant to this case, suspension is the best you can hope for.'

Danny nodded and slipped into the spare seat by Lindsay.

Cory gave him another disapproving stare before continuing, mentally clocking the little exchange. 'Tanglewood has been on the FBI's radar for years. We know that they have been the main supplier of cocaine to the northeast and that has continued even with Sonny Sassone in prison.'

'And how does this relate to Louie?' Danny asked impatiently.

'According to my UC, ever since your brother fingered him for the murder of Bobby Manning, Tanglewood has been watching Louie, and you.'

'So they killed him?' Danny asked, his hands curling into tight fists.

Cory shook her head. 'According to my agent, Louie's murder was Miss Turner's gang initiation.'

'I knew that feds talk crap, but your mouth-'

'Danny!' Stella snapped reprimandingly at him.

'Excuse me, detective, but your brother is dead, and the prime suspect seems to have a free reign of this lab,' Cory retorted, her tone calm yet icy.

There was a knock at the door and all eyes switched to the DNA and trace experts.

'We have results,' Adam told the room nervously.

'What is it?' Mac asked.

'We've confirmed the trace on the bullet.'

'And?'

Kendall sighed and handed the document over. 'It's a match to Louie.'

'This is the bullet that's a match to Turner's gun?' Cory asked, looking over her notes.

'Yeah,' Hawkes responded, looking at Mac as he spoke.

'And why hasn't she been pulled in for questioning yet?' Cory asked, as she too looked at Mac. 'I want an officer picking her up and have her in the interview room within the hour.'

'That might be a little harder than you think,' Lindsay told her.

'And why might that be?' Cory sighed.

Lindsay shrugged. 'You know that elevator that made me late? Well, it sounds like Taylor's stuck in it.'

--

Taylor glanced up at the two arrivals in the elevator and slowly shook her head. 'I can't do this,' she whispered.

Flack looked up and spotted Maddy, who he gave a nod in greeting. 'Who has she got with her this time?'

'Louie,' Taylor muttered, shutting her eyes.

'I thought it was you.'

'Please go away,' she whimpered. As the tears prickled at the corner of her eyes, Flack reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

'Maddy?'

Maddy looked over at the detective and cocked her head.

'Not now. We're stuck in an elevator. It's not like we can do anything.'

Maddy stared at him, before staring at her friend. 'He needs your help, Tay.'

Taylor's head snapped up. 'To what? Hammer the nails into the coffin lid, because I thought I had already done that?'

'Taylor,' Maddy started.

'I can't do this,' Taylor told her. 'I can't.'

Maddy sighed. 'We'll be back, you know.' She and Louie disappeared, the temperature in the small space returning to its raised setting.

'I can't do this,' Taylor repeated.

'They've gone, Tay,' Flack told her, assuming that as he could no longer see Maddy, Louie had also disappeared.

'I can't do this,' Taylor repeated, this time in a sob.

Flack quickly scooted over. 'Do what?'

'This,' Taylor told him. 'Us, the ghosts, the nightmares, looking after a child, the constant death.'

Flack sighed. 'Taylor, you don't have to do it alone.'

Taylor looked at him. 'What choice do I have now?' she asked him, her tone mournful, rather than bitter.

'I'm here,' he told her.

'But you're not.'

Flack took a deep breath. 'Taylor, I've always been there, trying to get you to open up to me. I'm still here. And yes, I may have overreacted slightly, but you need to talk to me.'

Taylor turned her head away, her gaze settling on the floor in the opposite corner. 'I can't,' she whispered.

'Why not?' he pleaded.

'Don, I see dead people,' she explained. 'I see them all the time. They interrupt me when I'm doing simple things like brushing my teeth, or taking Cordelia to the park. I don't like seeing dead people, Don.'

'Taylor,' Flack muttered softly. 'You're human – I'd be worried if you did.'

'No, Don. You never talk about cases at home, describe the things you've seen, so why should I?'

'Taylor,' Flack started again.

'No, let me finish,' she told him. 'I am surrounded by death. My friends keep dying and I can't stop it. And then they keep haunting me, reminding me I couldn't do anything; that I'm the reason they're dead.'

'Alright, stop it now,' Flack told her firmly. 'It is not your fault that anyone is dead.'

'Maddy,' Taylor started.

'Maddy fell in love with an abusive jerk. You didn't kill her.'

'And Aiden-'

'Aiden died how she lived – protecting people. It's not like you walked up to Pratt and told him to follow you, is it?'

'No, but-'

'Taylor, there are no buts. Hell, I bet Aiden and Maddy have both told you this.'

Taylor looked up at him and sniffed. 'I killed Louie.'

'That's enough now,' Flack informed her. 'As soon as we get out of here, we're going home, you're going to have a hot bath, take some sleeping tablets if you have to, and then you're going to get some rest.'

'We?' Taylor asked him, her eyes full of hope.

Flack nodded. 'We,' he repeated. 'But there's a catch.'

'What?'

Flack took a deep breath. 'If you really can't talk to me, that's fine. But I need you to talk to someone.'

Taylor's forehead crinkled up in confusion. 'You mean a shrink?'

'I think they prefer the term, "therapist", but yes. The department has an excellent one.'

Taylor frowned. 'I'm not seeing a department shrink.'

Flack shrugged. 'Fine. But I need you to talk to someone.'

Taylor sighed, nodding in defeat. 'Fine,' she responded in the same tone Flack had used. 'But if I get locked up, it's your fault.'

'Taylor, they're not going to lock you – the whole point of a therapist is to have someone completely nonjudgmental chat with you and see if you can make sense of what's going off in your life.'

Taylor gave him a small smile. 'I love you, but you had better be prepared to visit me in Bellevue.'

Flack laughed. 'Deal.'

Taylor glared at him. 'So I will get locked up?!'

'Taylor Nicole Turner, will you just shut up already?' Flack exclaimed.

'And I thought that was the problem,' Taylor shrugged.

Axellia's note: Yes, I may have stolen a quote from a Disney film… so sue me. Actually, don't! I'm poor. You won't get much other than a bald rabbit!

Axellia's note 2: The voting is officially open for the CSI:NY FF Awards. Either search in the forums (it's the top one in NY) or have a gander at The Corrupter's profile where there's a link in there two. Like I've said, there are lots of categories, and lots of really good stories up for voting - so go have fun... and don't forget to vote for me!! (:D)

What The Eyes Can't See