The Corrupter - I'm not borrowing any characters, no. It was merely conversation, and I'm not sure if his siblings will ever turn up in this story. Flack's got a lot of making up to do, but he'll get there! And I hope you've forgiven me and stopped crying now!

Trizzy - Hey, I love that song. And my music collection is... interesting. But I DJ, so I do have an excuse (does it count as an excuse if I listen to it all anyway?) Have I waited that long to update? I tried at the beginning of the week, but the site was being a pain and I think I got distracted. I think some questions will be answered soon, and I'm well aware of just how much fluff I owe, don't worry!

demolished-soul - I'm with you on that. Misled, maybe, but not bad! He's gonna come through for her, don't worry!

sparkyCSI - It does make sense. And I'm sorry I've not been online. I don't even remember what I've done, other than go watch Confessions of a Shopaholic last night... which felt like another film of my life. Grrr.

Madison Bellows - I love Adam, especially with the recent episodes and I just wanted to use him a little more - I realised that we didn't know much about him in my fic.

Carrie Michelle - *checks* yeah, I think a lot of the explanation is in this chapter - and he definately owes it!

ah-dorably key-ute - thank you, and I hope I haven't left you waiting too long!

joy1791 - lol, if that excuse flies, you have to let me know!

ambercsiny - it was an inspiration! I'm gonna get that chapter back to you asap!

Bmangaka - You're right - but they could probably 'bump' into the guns! Yeah, I think Mac would kick everyone's butts!

Aphina - i put the girl through so much, it's about time she had some form of reaction to it. I want to get back into this, but I've been so distracted with everything, I think my 'therapy' chapter has been what I needed!

meadow567 - Ghost Town I have no idea about, but definately yes on the others!

RK9 - I have only seen up to the season 2 finale of GW, so I have no idea what's happened with Jim and Melinda. The rabbits had fun, so don't worry! Ps, here ya go!

Have we got spoilers?? Hmm, nope, don't think so... so... thanks to my brilliant beta!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 208: Heal Me, Hurt Me, Make Me Live Again

Flack looked over his shoulder and into the empty doorway. He couldn't see anything. But then again, he could only ever see Maddy or Aiden, so that didn't really concern him. What did concern him was Taylor's reaction to the ghost – a child no less. And more concerning was that apparently Cordelia could see it. He returned his attention to Taylor. Her eyes were so red and puffy, mascara streaking down her face, that she looked like she had been curled up in the corner of the shower for hours. It also seemed that although she wasn't aware of it, she was clutching at her side in pain. 'Taylor,' he sighed, sliding down the wall to sit with her, pulling her close. 'Why has this ghost got you so worked up? What's he telling you?'

Taylor sniffed. 'You don't understand. They're everywhere, Don. The streets are full of them. Some of them are stalking the living, and some of them are oblivious – like they've forgotten that they're dead,' she told him before her voice broke in a sob again.

'Hey, hey,' Flack hushed her, squeezing her shoulders gently. 'I'm here now. You don't have to worry.'

And then, before Flack could figure out what was happening, Taylor had pulled away from him and slapped him. 'You're here now?' she cried. 'Now? Where the hell have you been until now?!'

His hand still touching his face where she had hit him, Flack looked away. Somehow he had been kidding himself that she hadn't noticed he hadn't been there. 'I had to make things right,' he muttered.

'Make what right, Flack?'

Flack winced. It had been a long time since she'd addressed him by his surname. 'I had to make things right for you,' he told her. 'For giving up on you; for turning that machine off. It's why you're mad at me, isn't it?'

'You think I'm mad at you because you turned my life support off?' Taylor cried incredulously. 'I told you that I didn't want to be kept alive by a machine,' she told him. 'You think I'm mad at you because of that?' she repeated, outraged. 'You know what? I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now,' she snapped at him. She quickly rose to her feet and turned abruptly. And then there was a sharp stabbing pain in her abdomen and she collapsed to the floor in a cry of pain.

Flack was at her side in an instant, scooping her up and taking her through to the bedroom, ignoring Taylor's demands that he "leave her the hell alone" as he lay her on their bed. 'We should probably get a doctor to look at that,' he told her, trying to push back her top.

Taylor slapped his hand away and moved back. 'Leave me alone,' she told him.

Flack looked ready to say something, but instead took a breath and nodded. He rose to his feet and left the room, closing the door behind him.

---

Taylor looked in the mirror, as she threw some water on her face. It had taken a while but the pain in her side had finally subsided. She was ready to go and talk to Flack when she heard the voices.

'... Don't you dare tell me to get out of my own house!' Flack yelled. 'You have no right.'

'You gave up your own rights when you didn't even bother to see how Taylor was doing,' Marty was bellowing back. 'And you think I'm gonna let you just waltz back in here and watch you destroy her bit by bit?'

'You think I'm being kicked out of my own house just to wait while you make your moves on my fiancé?'

'I'm being a friend,' Marty shouted at him. 'Which is a damn sight more than what you've done.'

Taylor sighed and headed down the stairs. 'Shut up, both of you,' she told them.

'Sorry,' Marty apologized. 'I was trying to get Flack to leave.'

'I am not going to leave my own house,' Flack snapped at him.

'No?' Marty asked him. 'You mean, now that it suits you, you're not going to leave it?'

'Hey!' Taylor cried. 'Give it a rest. Both of you.' She turned to Marty and smiled. 'Thank you, but I need to talk to Don.'

'Tay, you don't have to talk to him if you're not ready,' Marty hurriedly pointed out, throwing a glare at Flack.

Taylor nodded patiently. 'I know.'

Marty shot Flack a final glare before heading up the stairs.

'He's not staying here any longer,' Flack growled.

Taylor arched an eyebrow. Pursing her lips, she walked into the living room without a word and headed to the window, staring out into the night which was deceptively light due to the street lighting. It was also so she didn't have to look at the ghost of Robin.

'I'm glad you're alright,' Flack told her softly from the doorway.

'I'd never have guessed,' Taylor muttered dryly.

Flack winced, turning away. 'I'm sorry I gave up on you. I should never have turned that machine off.'

Taylor looked over at him. 'I've told you – I don't blame you for that. If I was in the same position again, I would still want you to do the same thing. That's not what upsets me.'

'Then what does?'

'The fact that you didn't come back. I mean, I can understand you had to work, and I was in a coma. But you never came to visit me in the hospital. And that hurts, Don,' she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself.

'I didn't think you'd want to see me,' he told her softly.

'You never gave me the chance,' she told him. 'I woke up and I saw everyone but you. Even Sid made an appearance and I barely know him. And all I wanted was you.'

'I really am sorry, Tay,' he muttered.

'Where were you?' she asked him after they had grown silent. 'What was more important?' Than me she wanted to add.

Flack sat down on the couch, perching on the end. 'I wanted to make sure that you'd be safe. I needed to make sure,' he corrected himself, his voice breaking.

Slowly, Taylor made her way over to the detective and knelt down in front of him. 'Thank you, Don. But you can't protect me from everything.'

'I can try,' he told her fiercely, his blue eyes looking the most determined she had ever seen them.

'And I love you for it, but I would feel a lot safer knowing you were coming home to me,' she told him, placing her hands on his knees. 'I don't know exactly what's been going on over the last couple of months, but from what I can gather you've become a little reckless in bringing down the Bullets. I don't want Mac or Stella coming to me one night, instead of you, because you got hurt.'

'I'm not going to give up being a cop,' he told her.

Taylor nodded. 'And I'm not asking you to. I just don't want a bounty hunter for a husband. Going out of your way to hunt these guys down? You work in homicide, not Dangerous Organizations. And lord knows you get yourself into enough trouble and danger dealing with dead folk.'

'I will if you will,' Flack said, taking her hands in his.

'I don't think I can,' she told him sadly. 'I had no control over them before, and now they're everywhere.'

Flack softly shook his head. 'I'm not asking you to give up the ghosts. I just don't want you going out of your way to research trouble.'

'So you want me to give up my job?'

Flack quickly shook his head. 'You don't write about current cases, Taylor. So why do you need to research the gangs in this city? You had acquired more information that the FBI and PD combined.'

'In my defense, I didn't know I was communicating with Bohr.'

'I know you didn't. Which is partly why it scares me so much: you get yourself into enough trouble and all you do is research and write.'

'Alright,' Taylor agreed.

'Same here,' Flack conceded. He frowned. 'And what about Pino?'

Taylor arched an eyebrow. 'Marty is one of my friends, Don. And I'm sorry, but he has been there every day since I woke up. I'm not about to throw him out when he's been looking after me. You two used to be good friends. You will be again.'

Flack studied her. 'He's here, isn't he?'

Taylor gave him a puzzled look. 'He's upstairs in the guest bedroom.'

'Not Pino,' he said, gently shaking his head. 'Robin – you haven't looked in the corner behind you since you walked into the room.'

Taylor swallowed, nodding slowly.

'And you say they're everywhere?'

Taylor continued nodding as fresh tears crept to the corners of her eyes. 'But they don't all want me to help them.'

'Do they want to hurt you?' Flack quickly asked, looking like he would go for his gun, whether or not that would actually do any good, should she say yes.

'I don't think so,' she told him. 'I don't think the majority of them even realize that I can see them.'

'What does Maddy say?'

Taylor shrugged. 'I haven't seen any of them since I left the hospital. I don't even know if I want an answer.'

'I tell you what, I'll go and salt the bedroom and then maybe we should get an early night – face this in the morning.'

'Don't you have to work?'

Flack sighed. 'I'm on suspension.'

'What happened?' Taylor softly. 'I wasn't really given many details.'

'Felix Bohr,' Flack told her, not meeting her eyes. 'I went after him, didn't wait for backup, and my partner got shot. Killed.'

'I'm sorry,' Taylor sighed. 'I hope Bohr rots in jail.'

'He's dead,' Flack said shortly.

'Good,' Taylor muttered, as Flack pulled her into his arms.

---

Taylor awoke early. Leaving Flack sleeping in the bed, she slipped out and made her way downstairs to make herself a cup of cocoa.

'He stayed didn't he?' Marty asked, appearing in the doorway.

Taylor nodded, stirring a spoon around in the mug as she poured the hot water in. 'He's my fiancé, Marty. He made a mistake and I forgive him.'

'Taylor, I just want to see you happy. And I'm not sure that Flack is the one to make you happy.'

Taylor moved over to the table and eased herself into the chair, wincing slightly.

'It's still hurting?'

'A little,' Taylor admitted. 'My body might have healed, but my brain hasn't worked that out yet. And for the record, Don makes me happy.'

Marty pulled open the fridge and pulled the milk out, shutting the door and leaning against it. He took a long swig of the milk. 'You know I'll kill him if he hurts you.'

'Yes I do. And I love you for it,' she told him. 'But he won't. And use a glass,' she chided him.

'Are you sure he hasn't already? You looked like you had been crying yesterday.'

'It doesn't necessarily mean that Don is the reason I was crying.'

Marty sighed and sat down opposite her. 'Please be careful, Taylor.'

'Has the department gotten back to you yet?' Taylor asked him, changing the subject.

'It's not looking promising,' Marty sighed.

Originally, Marty's placement in Missouri was only a nine month placement, with Peyton taking his place until he returned. However, the department had been quite taken with the female ME and had offered her a permanent position. The problem being the budget wasn't big enough to pay the salaries of both Marty and Peyton.

'What are you going to do?'

'I've been in touch with an old friend over at St George's. He says he can get me a spot in the ER.'

'That's good, isn't it?'

Marty scowled. 'I shouldn't have to. They gave my job away. Which they wouldn't have done if I was the one sleeping with Mac.'

Taylor pulled a face. 'Thanks for that image.'

'Well it's true,' Marty told her bitterly.

'Is there nothing you can do?' she asked him.

Marty shook his head. And then he got abruptly to his feet. 'I'm gonna go talk to my union rep. He'll tell me.' He put the milk back in the fridge and headed out of the kitchen, smiling at Nicolette as she walked in.

'I'm glad to see you are up and about,' Nicolette told Taylor as she filled the kettle up with water.

'Couldn't sleep,' Taylor muttered.

'And would you care to explain why there is sale all over the house?' she asked as she dropped a teabag into a cup.

'I had an accident,' Taylor told her, lips pursed in annoyance.

'All over the house?'

'Yes,' Taylor responded through gritted teeth.

'That was my fault, Nicolette,' Flack apologized, walking into the kitchen wearing a wife beater and a pair of blue silken pajamas bottoms.

'And how is that your fault, Donald?' Nicolette asked, her tone clipped.

'I decided to vacuum the house and thought I would put some Shake 'N' Vac down first,' he explained, ignoring the fact that Nicolette was shooting daggers at him as he turned the coffee machine on.

'You confused the salt with Shake 'N' Vac?' Nicolette asked him, clearly not believing the lame explanation.

'I'm afraid so,' he apologized, smoothly. 'Housework is not my forte.'

'Neither is it Taylor's,' Nicolette sniffed. 'And where have you been?'

There it was.

'Arresting the men responsible for putting Taylor in hospital,' Flack explained coolly, extracting the milk from the fridge.

'And you couldn't come visit mia figlia?'

'Drop it, Mama,' Taylor told her.

'Your mother is right,' Flack told her. 'I should have visited her, you're right,' he said, addressing Nicolette. 'And I regret not doing. But the man who did that to her is dead, and despite everything, that makes me happy.'

Nicolette pursed her lips. 'You should have visited her.'

'Yes,' Flack agreed. 'I should have. But I am here now. And I have no intention of leaving her side.'

Nicolette sniffed. 'Don't you dare let anything like that happen to her again.'

'I won't,' Flack promised.