Devil-may-care101 - You don't need to apologise - I think I've done pretty well with my own disappearing act at the moment! I plan on completely wrapping that story up in the upcoming chapters - for my own sanity, as well as Taylor's! Due to my infrequent updates, this whole storyline has been buzzing about in my head for a good two years now!

ambercsiny - I say I'm writing again and then go away. But I have an end to this story (however long away that is) and if nothing else I want to stick it out until then. So hopefully there will be plenty for you to read!

RK9 - It's been so long - did your exams go alright? Glad you could still find the time to drop a line! And my lil pal Seymour - how's he doing??

Trizzy - I have to ask - which is the other? I'm guessing you'd recommend it?! You know, aside from the last ever 8 episodes which are still on my Sky+ waiting to be watched, I have FINALLY found a channel which is showing all the episodes and I will soon have watched all of Third Watch. I know what you mean with Bosco - I spend ages making sure his name was still in the credits everytime I watched - it just wouldn't be the same without him. If you need to leave your job, I'd say do it - I haven't been this happy in a long time! I just wish I'd had the sense to wait until after Christmas... oh well, what's done is done!

Madison Bellows - No, I keep disappearing too - but I keep coming back! I have lots planned, just not enough time to write it in.

sparkyCSI - Mine are now going mental. My fingers can't keep up. It's a good job a lot of what I have planned next has been written... although that much needs editing in it, I may as well re-write it. Has work become any better?

Thoren - If I was a ghost, I would be causing a lot of mischief!! Pictues would move, keys get hidden, and certain people would have me litterally breathing down their neck and freaking them out. I'm glad it reminded you, although I have a feeling there will be a sense of deja vu with this chapter update.

demolished-soul - We had snow a couple of weeks back. It looked pretty, and the rabbits, strangely, loved it. But driving to work in it was long - I should have just pulled a sicky! Ah well. I wish it would snow again. Ugh, sequels. I have yet to find a decent Classic sequel.

Laplandgurl - I was miserable. Since I handed in my notice people keep telling me I look happy, so I guess I hated it more than I thought. Nothing lined up, just a bit of DJing. I worked 18 hour days for a good 8 months, so I have a little saved up that I don't have to work straight away, but that time seems to be flying by. I need a job!

meadow567 - it's downloading, albeit slowly! I like Flack too much to kill him. Although, if we go by that logic, it's Mac we should be worried about...

Where to start? Well I guess the obvious place should be with my eternal gratitude to my beta, sparky, who not only puts up with my constant disappearing sprees, but will also return my chapters within hours of me sending them to her - regardless of the different timezones! Next, in this chapter, we have spoilers from 3x22; Cold Reveal, as well as 3x23; ...Comes Around. Finally, a HUGE apology for my six week disappearence - I thought not having a job would free up time... turns out I was wrong!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 197: You've got bones in your closet

Although she was somewhat upset with Maddy and Aiden appearing like that, she was quite relieved at the same time. As Taylor stood on the corner, looking to hail a cab, she realized that arranged to head to the crime lab to meet Stella for lunch (Stella had been craving sushi the previous day), and she would have been late. Taylor hopped into the taxi, quickly texting Stella that she was on her way.

The traffic was moving slowly and Taylor ended up sending another text before they finally pulled up outside the lab, twenty minutes late. Rushing out, she tripped, landing straight on the unfortunate person who happened to be standing in the way. 'Sorry,' Taylor winced, feeling her face heat up in embarrassment.

'You alright?' he asked her, his voice thick with an accent Taylor recognized but couldn't place.

'Yeah, sorry,' Taylor repeated, flashing him another embarrassed smile before dashing into the lab. By the time she made it to reception, she wasn't surprised to see Stella waiting for her, looking a little worried. 'Sorry I'm late,' Taylor apologized.

'I think I might have to rain check,' Stella told her. 'Mac wants to see me.'

'Oh!' Taylor exclaimed. 'Did you tell him about the feeling of being followed?'

'Huh?' Stella asked, seeming distracted.

'Lindsay's wedding dress,' Taylor offered, waving her arms around. 'It felt like we were being watched?'

'Oh that,' Stella said, suddenly focusing on what Taylor was telling her. 'Actually, yes. And we weren't being paranoid.'

Taylor frowned. 'Do I need to be worried?'

Stella quickly shook her head. 'It's Mac's stepson.'

Taylor blinked. 'He kept that one quiet.'

'He didn't know,' Stella explained. 'The kid turned up looking for Claire, and in the process of following Mac around, figured that I was seeing him. And he's not that bad,' Stella told Taylor who was wrinkling her nose at that image.

Taylor cocked her head and eyed the pregnant woman. 'Stell, are you alright?'

Stella exhaled slowly and shook her head. 'My DNA was found on a ten year old murder case from Philadelphia.'

'What?!' Taylor exclaimed. 'How the hell did that happen? You can't have murdered someone.'

'I didn't,' Stella quickly agreed.

'No, but your DNA still connects you to my cold case.'

Taylor and Stella both turned to find the man Taylor had walked into moments earlier, eyeing the pair of them. 'And who are you?' Taylor asked him.

'Detective Valens, Philly homicide,' the Latino man told her. 'And who would you be?'

'Taylor Turner,' she returned.

'And you're a CSI too?'

Taylor pursed her lips. 'More of a specialist.'

'Great, another cocky lab rat,' Valens muttered under his breath.

Taylor's eyes narrowed.

'Don't you dare talk to her like that, Valens,' Stella snapped at him. 'You have no right to come waltzing into this lab, criticizing people, and accusing people of murder-'

Taylor glanced around at the small crowd that was gathering and grabbed the sleeves of both the detective's jackets, pulling them both into the closet empty lab. 'Sorry, but this is not a conversation to be had in the middle of reception.'

'No, you're right,' Stella muttered as Valens nodded his head.

'I'm sorry,' Valens apologized, 'but the fact of the matter is that our lab made a positive hit to a '97 murder investigation when we ran the blood evidence through CODIS.'

'You had new evidence?' Stella asked him.

Valens shook his head. 'We regularly run DNA through CODIS to see if any new entries have been made. It's clearly a successful practice.'

'I don't understand,' said Stella. 'How did my DNA end up in CODIS?'

Valens shrugged. 'You been arrested for anything recently?'

Stella rolled her eyes, before sending him a scathing look. 'No.'

'Um, I think that may have been something to do with me.'

Taylor, Stella and Valens looked over at the source of the voice. Sat behind a computer in the corner of the lab, Adam was trying his best to look inconspicuous.

'What do you mean?' Stella asked suspiciously.

'I uh, the pregnancy test you, uh, asked me to do. I think another, uh, tech might have, um, picked it up.'

Shaking his head, Valens slammed his case on the table and pulled out a folder. 'Does this coat look familiar?'

'No,' Stella told him, shaking her head.

'Well picture it less dirty, faded?'

Stella glared up at him. 'I've never seen the coat before, detective.'

Valens inhaled before pulling out another photograph. 'This a blouse found at the scene.'

Stella licked her lower lip in irritation. 'How about you just let me look at the case file?'

Valens smiled at her. 'You may be a detective, but you're also a suspect.'

'I'm also a cop who can help you,' Stella pointed out. 'Your department has been at a dead end until you got to me. I wasn't in Philly when you got your evidence. I was here, in New York, attending the police academy. So what do you say we use the resources of our forensics lab, bring on some fresh eyes and see if there's a connection – a New York connection to this evidence.'

Taylor was about to voice her agreement to the idea when the door was flung open and Mac stormed into the lab. 'Taylor!' he bellowed. 'My office. Now!'

Feeling like a child who had been caught with their fingers in the cookie jar, Taylor sighed and followed him to his office.

'What have I told you about being in this lab?' Mac yelled at her.

Taylor glared back at him, her arms folded tightly. 'Mac, I came in to meet Stella for lunch. I ended up in the middle of a heated discussion with her and the detective from Philadelphia, and rather than have the whole lab listening in, I dragged them into that room so they could have some privacy. It's not my fault Valens decided to produce some evidence there and then,' Taylor told him, keeping her voice even.

'In future, leave that to me, and you don't step past reception,' Mac told her, his voice softening slightly.

'I'm going,' Taylor muttered, dropping her arms. She turned to open the door as Gerrard did the same from the other side. He gave her a curt nod of the head as she stepped back.

'Do you have a minute, Mac?' Gerrard turned to Taylor. 'You may as well stay for this as it involves you.'

Taylor nodded with a frown.

'The police department is going forward with an internal investigation.'

Mac glared at him, his anger quickly returning. 'So you're telling me that the DA has no evidence that I tossed Dobson off that building, but the NYPD isn't sure?'

'It's not as simple as that, Mac,' Gerrard told him.

'No,' said Mac, shaking his head. 'I don't imagine that it is.'

'This is about the police department.'

Mac snorted. 'What you mean is you and Sinclair felt a little media pressure,' he nodded his head in Taylor's direction. 'And for the sake of the department, you're not going to come to my defense. And I suppose I shouldn't take that personally?'

'Hey!' Taylor objected. 'Just because I work for a paper does not mean that I'm part of the media lynch mob, Mac. I know you didn't do it.'

Gerrard held his hands up. 'The department has an obligation to the people of this city.'

'You used to walk the beat, Stan,' Mac pointed out. 'You used to walk 42nd street, and it was nothing but drug dealers and hookers, and little by little, you and a dozen hard working cops cleaned it up. Made it what it is today.'

'What's your point, Taylor?' Gerrard asked suspiciously.

'I was just wondering?' Mac asked. 'When you making all those arrests, locking up bad guys, were you imagining a day when you'd be sitting behind a desk being so busy kissing the chief of detective's ass that you wouldn't remember what it was like to be a cop?'

'You son of a bitch,' Gerrard growled. 'I don't deserve that. You know-'

'You don't have to explain it, Inspector,' Mac told him, cutting him off. 'I get it. You're just a puppet.'

'Mac, that's a little out of order,' Taylor pointed out.

'And you?' Mac turned on her. 'What are you still doing in my lab?'

Taylor was all ready to ask him if he'd forgotten that Gerrard had asked her to stay, but Gerrard beat her to it. 'You might want to be nice to her, Taylor,' he told Mac. 'Because not only does she seem to be the only member of the press who actually believes you, she's also one of your witnesses,' he shouted after Mac as the head detective took off out of the office.

Taylor's mouth dropped. 'I'm what?'

'The hearing commences tomorrow morning,' he looked over at Taylor, placing a hand on her shoulder. 'Don't be afraid of Mac,' he added before leaving, leaving Taylor with her mouth still hanging open.

'Yo Drew, how many flies you catching there?' Danny asked her, appearing at her side, looking somewhat amused at what he saw.

Taylor turned slowly. 'Mac's got a hearing tomorrow about Dobson, and they want me there.'

'Yeah, I heard,' Danny shrugged.

'And you didn't think to say anything?' Taylor gaped at him.

Danny held his hands up in defense. 'Taylor, I only just found out myself.'

'Sorry,' Taylor sighed. 'I'm just in shock.'

'Tay, they're accusing him of pushing a cuffed suspect off the side of a building. There was always going to be an inquiry into it. The problem is, they do have a good case.'

'Mac didn't push anyone off a building, cuffed or otherwise,' Taylor told him vehemently.

'Hey,' Danny shot back. 'I know that. We just have to convince everyone else of that.'

'Yeah,' Taylor agreed, although a small part of her was thinking her life would be slightly easier if there was someone else running the crime lab. 'Although personally, I think that maybe we should focus on Stella.'

Danny nodded. 'That's where I'm headed now. You coming?'

Taylor sighed, glancing down the corridor. 'I don't know. Mac has told me to get out. Again.'

'Mac's gone to his hearing,' Danny pointed out.

Taylor frowned. 'Gerrard said it starts tomorrow.'

'Mac's got his prelim this afternoon,' he glanced at his watch. 'Or at least he will have in a couple of hours. But I guess he's going to want to meet with the Union rep before then. Which means the lab is going to be Mac free for a time.'

Taylor grinned. 'You're a bad influence, Danny Messer.'

'It's all part of the charm,' Danny grinned as he led her into a lab.

Stella looked up from the table she was sat at. 'Danny, this is Detective Scotty Valens from Philadelphia homicide. Detective Valens, this is Detective Danny Messer.'

Danny gave the guest detective a curt nod, which was quickly returned, before Valens grabbed a box from the floor and dumped it on the table and began pulling out various bagged evidence and photographs. 'March 97, workers found the bloodied clothes and knife buried in the dirt. Clothes were on the south side of the Philadelphia turnpike, headed towards Philly. It matches no missing persons report file... there's just this evidence. No prints on the knife, but the blouse had three cuts in it and much of the blood on the clothes was female, but there was some male DNA.' He looked over at Stella. 'Of course, we found traces of your blood as well.'

Stella ignored the comment and pulled some papers over to her. 'It says here the blouse had photo developing chemicals on the cuffs.'

Valens nodded. 'Yeah, we think the victim may have been a photographer.'

Danny looked up from the folder he was poring over. 'There were traces of neoprene and Vaseline, and white iridescent paint found on the coat.'

There's a lot of different uses,' Valens admitted.

'Let me see this chemical report,' said Stella, leaning to take said report from Danny. 'So, iridescent paint, neoprene and Vaseline? It's rubber, right?'

Danny nodded his head in agreement. 'What ya thinkin?'

Stella's eyebrows knitted together. 'Ten years ago all of these chemicals were featured prominently in one place in Manhattan. A piece of art at El Museo del Barrio.

'You were there?' Valens asked her sharply.

Stella shook her head. 'No. I just remember reading about it in the paper. You said that your vic was a photographer. Maybe she brushed up or leaned against it an picked up the trace whilst she was taking photos.'

Danny looked up. 'I'll put a call in to the newspapers to see if they have anything in their archives.'

Taylor quickly cleared her throat, throwing Danny a look which said something along the lines of 'duh!'

'Taylor, you can have a look in the archives,' Danny quickly corrected himself.

Stella nodded. 'You know,' she said to Danny, 'we should check new York's missing persons and see if anyone who's associated with the museum has gone missing.'

'We?' asked Valens, looking a little put out. 'I ain't looking for a partner here.'

Stella gave him a pointed look. 'I ain't looking for a partner here.'

---

Taylor didn't realize how late it had gotten until the sound of the door opening and closing again brought her from her trance. She was sitting on the floor of the front room, curled up on the rug – the only carpeting in there still, tucked up under a thick blanket in front of the fire. Her hair was pulled back into a pony tail with two pens poked into it, another was in her hands, tapping at her knee, occasionally making its way to her mouth to chew on thoughtfully, an unknown blue ink stain darkening the corner of her mouth. Surrounding her were papers dating back ten years, as well as a laptop on the floor in front of her, logged into her paper's archives.

'You're going to hurt your eyes like this,' Flack told her warily – aside from the light from the fire, Taylor only had a small lamp on in the corner of the room, MTV playing quietly from the TV, and the light glow of the laptop.

'You're back late,' Taylor smiled at him after glancing at the clock on the laptop. 'I thought your shift finished a few hours ago?'

'I take it you didn't get the text then?' Flack asked her as he cleared some space behind her and sat down, pulling her into him.

Taylor leant forward to pull the blanket from her and wrapped it around them both. 'Don, you're freezing,' she told him, shivering as his hands snaked around her waist and under her sweater to pull her tightly.

Flack exhaled softly, resting his chin on her shoulder. Even his stubbly chin was cold. 'I was out on patrol with Angell.'

Taylor cranked her neck to look at him, noting the trouble expression in his eyes. 'Patrol? What did you and Angell do?'

'Mac walked out in the middle of his opening statements.'

'That's not gonna look good,' Taylor muttered softly. 'Why?'

Flack shook his head. 'I wasn't in there, but Mac came out saying they were accusing him of being a murderer. I can understand it in a way, I guess.'

'And how does this feed back to you going out on patrol?'

Flack gave a small shrug. 'Gerrard.'

Taylor's eyes narrowed. 'What did he say to you?'

Flack shifted so he could see her face. 'Why? What did he say to you?'

'I asked first,' Taylor shrugged.

Flack frowned. 'Called me smart. That I knew where my loyalties lay.'

'Which translates to?' Taylor pressed.

'Well, as Sinclair put it; "the outcome of a hearing like this can have a profound effect on the careers of many people for years to come".'

Taylor snorted. 'No pressure then?'

'Something like that,' Flack muttered, returning his position so that his chin was back on Taylor's shoulder. 'What did he say to you?'

'Same thing minus the promotion hints,' Taylor shrugged. 'So how did you end up on patrol? You didn't tell Gerrard where to stick it, did you?'

Flack smiled. 'Tempting as it was, no, I didn't. I just didn't want to be in the pen today. Needed some air. Angell agreed to join me.'

'Should I be worried?'

'Of what? Jenn? Not unless I grow some boobs.'

Taylor laughed. 'Fine, point taken.'

'And what are you doing?'

Taylor took a deep breath. 'I went to see that FBI agent this morning. And that seems a very long time ago at this point.'

'And?'

'Well, she pointed out that the reason Sassone may have been targeting me was because it would discredit the lab and he could then get out on a technicality,' Taylor bit her lip. 'I also agreed to help her. She seems to think I may have found something out without realizing it. Which is entirely possible, but I think that if it was something major I would have noticed it.'

'I'm glad you're doing it, Tay, but please be careful.'

Taylor squeezed the arms around her. 'Don, she's an FBI agent, and more to the point, we're just going over my notes.'

'I know,' Flack sighed. 'But I have a funny feeling about this.'

'I'll be fine,' Taylor reassured him.

'You'd best be,' he told her as he reached out and grabbed one of the papers nearest to them. 'What's a ten year old art exhibition got to do with Sassone?'

Taylor winced. 'You've not been anywhere near the lab have you?'

Flack shook his head. 'I told you, I was at Mac's hearing, and then I was out on patrol. What's going on, Tay?'

'Oh, um… Well, there's a homicide detective from Philadelphia paying a visit. It turns out that Stella's DNA was found at a murder scene ten years ago.'

Flack scowled. 'Is it me, or does anyone else think that's a load of bull?'

'Oh, we all think it. Problem, Valens, the detective, he doesn't know Stella. We've just got to prove her innocence.'

'Much as I love you for helping, but isn't this one of those occasions where you shouldn't be?'

'Stella helped me,' Taylor objected. 'I'm going to help her.'

'I knew you'd say that,' he muttered tiredly. 'Just be careful, Tay. Mac's under a lot of pressure and IAB are crawling all over the lab at the minute. Not to mention the detective doesn't exactly know of your abilities.'

'And he's not going to either,' Taylor returned. 'I'll be fine. I know I will. And so will they.'

Flack sighed. 'I should go to bed. I have to be at the hearing tomorrow.' He frowned. 'Actually, don't you have to be at the hearing too?'

Taylor nodded. 'I'm first up. And I'll be up in a bit. I just want to finish up here.'

Flack leant around and pressed his lips to hers, before extracting his long limbs from around her and leaving her on the rug.