ambercsiny - Hey, it makes me happy to hear that! Holidays were alright - I had a very nice Christmas dinner!

sparkyCSI - I am working on 206 as we speak (although I'm not sure if I've gone too... well, you'll see when you read it!)

demolished-soul - I have a lot going on in these chapters, but I'm sticking relitively close to the show for this.

meadow567 - lol, they're ordering it in for me, and I got them to add miracle to the list too!

Well, still on the same spoilers, but I think I'm done with them after this chapter. After this, it's all mine for a while. And it's been a long time coming (in that it has literally been written and saved on my computer for the best part of two years!) Enjoy!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 199: If music is the victim then so am I

Flack wrapped the towel around him and walked into the bedroom, pausing to laugh at the sight of his fiancée. She was lying face down in the middle of the bed, virtually spread eagle, save for her left hand, which was curled up in a fist by her face. Or would have been, had her head not been hidden under Flack's pillow. He lay down next to her, removing the pillow, and stared at her. She was frowning. Still smiling to himself, he brushed a tendril of hair out of her face.

'Stop it,' Taylor mumbled.

'What?'

'Watching me sleep. It's off-putting.'

Flack grinned. 'What would you say if I could watch you sleep all day?'

Taylor peeked open an eye. 'I'd call you a doofus.'

'You always call me a doofus,' Flack pointed out, still grinning.

'Fine,' Taylor stretched and rolled over onto her side. 'Then you would be a sap too.'

'A sap?'

'Oh, you know it,' Taylor told him. 'I can think of a hundred things that I would rather be doing with you in bed all day.'

Flack groaned. 'Tay, you can't be saying things like that to me.'

'And why would that be?' Taylor asked him, batting her eyelids at him as she tugged at the towel.

In a quick, fluid moment, Flack had Taylor's hands pinned above her head as he looked down at her. 'Because you are going to make me very late.'

----

He was right. He was late. As was Cordelia – so much for the early streak. Taylor, on the other hand, as she didn't exactly have to be in the 'office' for a certain time, headed in to turn in her latest assignment, leaving it to the last minute, as usual. On her way out, she was stopped by Sasha leaping in front of her.

'It's my birthday!'

Taylor grinned. 'I know, happy birthday,' she said, giving her friend a hug. 'But you're going to have to wait until this evening for your present.'

'Oh, I'm not bothered about presents. I just want you there.'

'And I will be,' Taylor promised.

'Good,' Sasha beamed. 'And I've sorted out the babysitter problem.'

Taylor arched an eyebrow.

'It turns out that there were a few people having problems finding sitters this close to Christmas, so I have arranged for a giant sleepover for all the kids, with plenty of supervision, so no one has to worry, and everybody can have a good time.'

'Sash, I would have found someone,' Taylor frowned.

'Yeah, but then you'd have been worried about what time to get home. Besides, this was selfish purely on my part – I want lots of people there!' Sasha gave another excited dance, hands clapping. 'But I have to go get ready. Gary will be around at yours about seven.'

'I can sort my own costume out as well, you know,' Taylor called after her. But that was lost, or ignored.

Shaking her head slightly, Taylor headed out and on towards the crime lab – she hadn't heard anything from Stella and she was curious as to how things were shaping up that end.

She found Stella in one of the evidence rooms (having been wandering around the lab for the past few days and not seeing Mac once, his orders of staying out of the lab were staying out of the lab with him.), the evidence from the '97 case laid out in front of her. 'Are you having any luck?'

Stella put down the jacket she was examining and sighed. 'No.'

'Is there anything I can do to help?' Taylor asked, knowing the answer before Stella shook her head.

'Not really. Not unless you have a method of convincing Valens I'm innocent.'

Taylor shook her head. 'No, but I can make him think I'm crazy.'

Stella gave her a smile. 'It's okay, I think I have something anyway,' she said as Scotty walked into the lab.

Valens nodded at both of them before his expression turned to a frown. 'We have forensic scientists in Philadelphia too.'

Stella gave him a look. 'Look, I'm not trying to insult anyone, and I'm sure everyone in your department is quite capable. It's just that I might be able to explain something they can't. Evidence without context to them might mean something to me.'

Valens waved his arms over the evidence. 'Well, go ahead, Stella. You're driving. The way you like it.'

Taylor gave him a glare. She was certain he was probably really good at his job, but he was also doing a really good job of rubbing not only Stella, but Taylor too, up the wrong way.

Stella's expression mirrored Taylors. 'Okay, well what did your people list as possible causes for this burning?' she asked, pointing at something on the jacket.

Valens shrugged. 'There's a lot of them.'

'Okay,' said Stella, drawing out the word. 'What about this pattern here?'

Valens leant over. 'Yeah, we looked at that,' he muttered, reaching for the notes. 'Yeah. Consistent with the pattern of a wide toothed comb, film, jewelry. Something stand out?'

Stella nodded. 'Yeah, film reel. Garth Bennett was a projectionist at a revival theatre.'

Taylor frowned. 'Garth Bennett?'

Stella turned to Taylor. 'Oh, I forgot, sorry. Erin is actually Mindy Sanchez. She and I lived together in foster care for a while. Marilyn and Garth Bennett were our foster parents.'

Taylor's eyes widened. 'You think your foster father killed Erin?'

Stella shrugged. 'I hope not.'

'Well I would rather he be the suspect than you,' Taylor shrugged. 'Come on, let's go.'

Valens pulled a face. 'Do the lab rats normally come with you? Where's Messer?'

'No they don't,' said Stella, giving Taylor a pointed look. 'Danny is in court.'

Taylor swore. 'I forgot about that.'

Stella gave her a smile. 'Why don't you head there and fill me in later.'

-----

Taylor was just leaving the lab when she spotted Lindsay. 'Yo! Montana!' she yelled, loud enough for half the passing commuters to stop and stairs.

Lindsay turned around with a look of disbelief. 'Montana? I thought I only got that off Danny.'

Taylor shrugged. 'Got your attention.'

'And what was that important that you needed my attention?'

'A party.'

Lindsay gave her a skeptical look. 'What party?'

'Sasha's birthday party.'

'When?' Lindsay asked.

'Tonight,' Taylor shrugged.

Lindsay shrugged. 'Sounds like fun. I could do with a night out. Although a little more notice would have been nice.'

Taylor grinned and made to walk away when she stopped. 'Oh, it's fancy dress. Rock star fancy dress,' she added.

'What?' Lindsay blinked.

Taylor quickly shook her head. 'You can't back out now. And at least you get to pick your own costume. Be at mine at seven?'

'Fine,' Lindsay muttered begrudgingly.

---

Taylor slipped into the court, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, considering the departmental bitch had already started interviewing Danny, sitting down beside Flack who gave her a smile.

'And how long have you worked with Detective Taylor?'

Danny shrugged. 'About five years now.'

The bitch looked over at him. 'So you would be able to testify as to his character?'

'Working side by side with someone long enough, you get to know them, yeah,' Danny agreed.

'Would you say he was intolerant of people who violated procedure?'

Danny frowned. 'Mac's a no-nonsense guy when it comes to the rules. But I wouldn't go so far as to say he's intolerant.'

The bitch took a moment to walk over to Danny. 'So at times he condones breaking the rules?'

'I didn't say that,' Danny objected, shaking his head.

'I understand you've been the subject of some controversy whilst working for Detective Taylor. Is that right?'

Danny cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. 'Yeah. Controversy.' He nodded. 'Uh-huh.'

'Can we please push her off a building?' Taylor hissed under her breath.

'It's ironic that Detective Taylor's chewed you out on more than one occasion for violating procedure and now he finds himself in this position, no?' Natalie continued.

Danny pulled a face. 'Is that an actual question?'

From the depths of Taylor's pockets, Flagpole Sitta came blasting out. Flushing as everyone stared at her, she thrust her hands into her pockets, only just registering that Cory was calling her, before she rejected the call and turned the phone off. 'Sorry,' she muttered, feeling Flack wince next to her.

The bitch threw her a disapproving glare, then, determined not to let the interruption throw her, turned back to Danny. 'You knew Detective Taylor felt responsible for Mr. Dobson's release, didn't you?'

Danny's glasses almost slipped off his nose. 'Mr. Dobson? Is that what we're calling serial killers who cut the eyelids of off young girls so that they can watch their killer as they die? Mr. Dobson?'

'Did you know how he felt, detective?' Natalie pressed.

Danny drew a breath. 'I know Mac found evidence implicating a dirty cop, and he did exactly what he was supposed to do. Dobson's release, the attacks on the young girls – they're on Dobson's conscience, not Mac's.'

Feeling Flack tense up next to her, Taylor slid her hand onto his thigh and gave it a soft squeeze. Despite everything, he was clearly still feeling bad about what had happened.

The bitch walked back to the table and grabbed a file off it. 'Detective Messer, this is Clay Dobson's autopsy reports.' She handed the file over. 'Can you read the highlighted section on page twenty three?'

Danny nodded. 'Sure.'

Even Flack had to suppress a grin as Danny sat there in silence, reading the document in front of him.

Natalie rolled her eyes. 'Out loud, detective.'

'Out loud,' Danny nodded. 'Fractured nose, laceration over the left eye, multiple bruises to the ribs,' he listed.

'Clay Dobson landed on his back,' the bitch added, cutting Danny off. 'How does Detective Taylor's conscience strike you now?'

---

'That woman is a-'

'Bitch?' both Taylor and Flack offered as Danny met them outside.

Danny looked between the two of them. 'She got you two as well then?'

'You know that mood I was in yesterday?' Taylor asked him. 'That was her.'

'Ah,' Danny nodded in acknowledgement. He frowned and looked around. 'Has Mac actually made an appearance?'

Flack shook his head. 'Apart from the opening statement, to which he stormed out? No.'

Danny pulled a face. 'That doesn't really look good.'

Taylor sighed. Much as she couldn't stand Mac sometimes, at the end of the day, he was good at his job. And this behavior wasn't doing much to help.

'How's it going?' Stella asked, coming to join them.

'Break time, and then you're up,' Flack told her.

'And the interviewer is a bitch,' Taylor muttered.

'She can't be that bad?'

'Oh, that's the problem,' Danny muttered. 'She's that good.'

'Oh dear,' Stella muttered.

'How's it going with Detective Valens?' Taylor asked her to change the subject.

Stella frowned. 'I think I'm in the clear.'

Taylor studied the curly haired woman as the two men wandered off. 'And yet you don't look as happy as I would expect.'

Stella shook her head. 'Let's just say it wasn't the result I was expecting.'

'Look, it's Sasha's birthday party tonight. Do you want to come?'

'Thanks,' said Stella. 'But there's something I need to do tonight, so I think I'll rain check.' She looked behind Taylor and smiled. 'Detective Valens.'

Taylor stepped back as he joined them.

'Hi.'

'So, you heading out?' Stella asked him.

Valens nodded. 'It's your case now.'

'The DNA came back on the arterial spray on the projection booth wall. Male. Same DNA that was on the turnpike evidence.'

'And since Garth Bennett's been missing for ten years,' Valens shrugged.

'It could be his,' Stella agreed. 'Of course, we don't have his body.'

'Your foster father?' Taylor gasped.

Stella nodded. 'It looks like it could be.'

'What about Marilyn?' asked Taylor.

'Well the clothes weren't her size. No evidence of her DNA on the coat, blouse, or knife.'

Valens drew a breath. 'So why did she clean up the crime scene if she didn't kill her husband?'

'Maybe she was protecting someone. There is that third DNA sample we haven't identified yet.'

'Erin Yates, aka, Mindy Sanchez. She runs away from foster care, uses a dead woman's identity,' he glanced down at the two women. 'She's going to be tough to find. Keep me posted.'

Stella nodded. 'Will do.'

Valens gave Stella a searching look. 'You know, one thing I never get used to working these cold jobs?'

'What's that?'

'They stir up the past,' Valens replied, although he was looking at Taylor.

Taylor gave him a smile, wondering what he was implying.

'You take care of yourself, detective,' said Stella, offering her hand.

Valens took it. 'You do the same.' He turned to Taylor. 'And you keep up with the good writing.' Without waiting for a response – which would have taken a while for Taylor to stop flapping her mouth about as it was – he turned and left.

'Detective Bonesara?'

Stella looked at the clerk that was calling her. 'I guess it's my turn.'

---

'There's no one in the department I trust more than Mac, both personally and professionally.'

Natalie smiled. 'So you would do or say anything you could to help him out if he was in a bind?'

'I wouldn't lie if that's what you're implying,' Stella replied, frowning at the woman.

'You work very closely with Detective Taylor. Is it fair to say Clay Dobson's release affected him… emotionally?'

Stella frowned. 'He was passionate about solving the case.'

'And were you with Detective Taylor in the hours before the incident on the roof?'

Stella nodded. 'Yes, we were in the basement of the Weddington where we had found one of Dobson's victims.'

Natalie smiled. 'While in the basement, did Detective Taylor leave unexpectedly?'

'Unexpectedly?' Stella shook her head. 'No. The victim identified Dobson as her attacker. Mac acted on the information.'

The bitch's smiled grew. 'But did he notify you, or any other member of the team?' She waited whilst Stella tried to work out how to answer the question. 'Detective… did he?'

Stella licked her lips. 'No, we turned around and he was gone.'

'So he violated department procedure?' she asked instantly.

'Under the circumstances, he-'

The bitch cut her off. 'Did he violate department procedure?'

Stella sighed. 'Yes.'

---

'That woman is-'

'A bitch?'

Stella frowned. 'Actually, I was going for good. She's very good.'

'And Mac is very screwed,' Danny muttered.

Stella looked around. 'Has he still not made an appearance?'

Flack shook his head. 'He's not answering his phone. I don't have a clue where he is.'

'I might,' Stella muttered as she disappeared.

'And I guess she's not going to share,' said Taylor as she watched her leave. She looked up at Flack. 'So, if you've been at court all day, does that mean you're going to come party with me?'

Flack looked at Danny before looking at Taylor. 'Actually, we agreed to go for drinks.'

'Oh,' Taylor mouthed. She shrugged. 'Well I guess it's a good job got Lindsay to agree to come then.'

'You don't mind?'

Taylor shook her head. 'Why should I? You two have fun, and maybe we can all meet up after.' She frowned. 'At least you get to escape dressing up as Madonna.'

'You're going as Madonna?' Danny asked.

Taylor sighed. 'Actually, I don't know who I'm going as. Gary won't tell me. But I wouldn't be surprised if it involved a conical bra, or something as elaborate.'

---

At the relentless hammering at the front door, Taylor hurried down the stairs; towel still wrapped around her, and poked the door open.

'You don't look ready for me,' Gary told her.

'You're early,' Taylor informed him before shutting the door to take the safety chain off. She stepped back to let him in, shivering at the icy wind that was leaking into the already cold hallway.

'You haven't decorated much,' Gary told her, looking around.

'Haven't had time,' Taylor shrugged, shutting the door. 'Kitchen's done. Cordy's room is done. The rest will come.'

'And where is the little princess?'

Taylor led him upstairs to the bedroom. 'Sasha organized a giant sleep over party for all the kids of the parents who were attending tonight. She didn't want any excuses.'

'And the blue eyed prince?'

Taylor smiled. 'Don has gone for a lad's night out.'

'And what does Miss Sasha think of this?' Gary asked her, eyebrows arched at the 'scandal'.

'She thought he was working to start with,' Taylor shrugged. 'It's not been a great week, and if he wants to get drunk with the boys then he can go ahead and get out of dressing like Madonna.'

'Oh, I would never have had him dressed as Madonna,' Gary told her with a small smirk. 'And neither are you, for that matter.'

Taylor eyed him and the suit cover he was holding. 'Something tells me to be scared.'

Gary shook his head as the doorbell rang. 'Right. You put this on, I'll get that.'

Taylor glanced at the clock. 'It's probably Lindsay.'

'And I'll probably find that out,' Gary told her as the doorbell rang again. 'Get your scrawny ass in that bathroom and get dressed. I'll sort out the wig after.'

'Wig?' Taylor repeated, but Gary was already halfway down the stairs.

---

'You know Christina's a blonde, don't you, Gary,' Taylor grumbled as she emerged from the bathroom.

'I could dress you up as Britney in that school girl outfit,' Gary told her.

'She's also blonde!'

'Taylor, you look hot,' Lindsay exclaimed.

'For now,' Taylor muttered. 'But it's gotta be ten below out there at least. I'll look like a popsicle.'

Gary rolled his eyes. 'You're going as Christina Aguilera and that's that. Do you know how long it took me to find those chaps?'

Taylor glared at him. 'What are you on about? These are probably out of your own closet.'

'Oh darling, mine are blue,' Gary informed her, clinking wine glasses with Lindsay – they'd appeared about the same time the mousy haired...

'Linds, you look incredible,' Taylor told her. Gone was Lindsay's mousy brown hair, to be replaced with a fiery wig of reds, oranges and yellows.

Lindsay shrugged. 'I was going to cheat and wear the same outfit I wore to my birthday, but I saw the wig on the way home and thought, "What the heck?".'

'You suit the punk look,' Gary agreed. 'I don't think I could have done a better job. Hayley Williams, right?'

Lindsay nodded. 'But I really was going to go for a pair of daisy dukes and a vest top and claim to be Dolly Parton or something.'

'I prefer that look,' Taylor told her, heading over and grabbing the bottle of wine.

'Drinking out of the bottle isn't very lady like,' Gary chided.

'Gary, I'm wearing a bikini and a pair of chaps. I need some liquid courage and a beer coat before I step outside.'

'All you need is a wig, and you will look fabulous. No one will recognize you.'

'Good,' Taylor muttered, plunking herself down in front of the mirror, allowing Gary to pull her hair back before fixing the wig in place. Admittedly, when she looked in the mirror, she didn't look too bad – if the party had been in the summer. 'Who is Sasha going as?'

'She wanted big and sparkly,' Gary shrugged. 'Diana Ross. And now, my pop rock princesses, I must go home and work some magic on myself.'

'And who are you going as?' asked Lindsay.

'That is a surprise,' he winked over his shoulder as he sashayed out of the door.

Gone, Taylor turned to Lindsay. 'Alright, how stupid do I look?'

'You do actually look good,' Lindsay reassured her. 'It's a shame you don't have some colored contacts.'

---

By midnight, Taylor was no longer feeling conscious of what she was wearing. Not only was she quite drunk, but it turned out that she was actually wearing some of the less 'elaborate' costumes.

'Taylor, I think I need to bail,' Lindsay told her, looking up from her phone.

'Is something wrong?'

Lindsay shook her head. 'I don't think I can handle too much more, and Danny's going to swing by and we can share a cab.'

Taylor glanced at her phone to check the time. 'I don't think Sasha will forgive me if I leave this early. I promised I'd help her get her presents home. And herself.' She frowned. 'Maybe I should switch to something virgin, otherwise I'm not going to be able to handle much more.'

'You don't mind?'

Taylor shook her head. 'No, I'm just grateful you came to start with. The last thing I wanted was to walk in here by myself.'

She waited with Lindsay until a cab pulled up and Danny's clearly drunken head was stuck out of the window, yelling it was time to get home. Giving the pair a wave, she hurried back into the club, out of the snow and back into the warmth, heading straight for the bar where it was quieter.

'You look like you need a drink.'

Taylor turned to the guy sat next to her. 'Actually, I think I need to hit the non-alcoholic drinks.'

'Let me get that for you,' he offered, motioning the barmaid over.

'I have a boyfriend, you know,' Taylor smiled politely at the man.

The man shrugged at her, 'I'm just offering a drink. You look like you need it.'

Taylor looked at him. He looked a little rugged, but harmless enough. 'So which music artist are you supposed to be?' she asked him as she sat down next to him.

'I decided to go for Axl Rose,' he told her as he slid the orange juice over to her. 'No guesses as to who you are.'

Taylor rolled her eyes. 'Not my idea,' she frowned. She was about to grumble about Gary when her phone rang. 'Excuse me,' she told him, grabbing it out of her pocket and sliding off the seat. She returned minutes later. 'Boyfriend,' she explained.

'Everything alright?'

Taylor nodded, taking a sip of the drink. 'Yeah, he was just telling me to call him when I was done.'

'So do you feel as out of place as I do here?' he asked her.

'I'm dressed in chaps and a bikini,' she told him dryly, taking another mouthful of juice. 'How do you know Sasha?'

'Friend of a friend,' he smiled.

---

A short while later, and Taylor wasn't feeling too well. 'Excuse me,' she muttered to her companion as she grabbed her bag and headed for the bathroom, stumbling slightly as she went. She hadn't drunk much but the party was turning into a swirling blur.

Taylor pushed open one of the doors and found herself greeted by a blast of cold air. She had clearly picked the wrong door, and ended up outside, but she didn't feel any worse for it. Taylor looked up the alley and saw a taxi head past on the road. Maybe it was time to go home.

She was pulling her cell phone out of her bag when the world decided to turn upside down on her.