What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 227: We have got through so much worse than this before

Taylor awoke early to the motion of the bed pressing down on the other side. She rolled over and stretched. 'You're in late,' she yawned.

'Long night,' Flack told her, pulling her to him. 'We followed a lead and ended up in a laundrette with a new suspect.'

'Let me guess, he was clean?' Taylor asked.

Flack shook his head, missing her pun. 'Far from it. He had a little gambling ring going on inside the washing machines,'

'You really need to get some sleep,' Taylor mumbled into him.

'Gerrard's daughter got pulled in for questioning,' Flack added.

Taylor moved back slightly to look at Flack's face. His expression was serious. 'Really? You think she killed her teacher?'

Flack shook his head. 'No, but we thought she knew something.'

'Did she?'

Flack sighed. 'Actually, I think she may have been having an affair with the vic.'

'But she's a kid!' Taylor exclaimed. 'What the hell is it with girls dating guys so much older than them?'

'Girls?' Flack queried after a moment's pause.

'Oh, Riley smokes and she has a much older boyfriend.'

Flack inhaled deeply. 'How much older?'

'She's a minor, he's not,' Taylor said shortly.

"And what did you do?' Flack asked her.

Taylor frowned at him. 'I grounded her for life,' Taylor said as though that was the most rational explanation.

'We'll sit down and have a talk with her this weekend. Lay down some official house rules.'

'Are you saying that I shouldn't have grounded her?' Taylor asked in surprise.

'No,' Flask replied calmly. 'I'm saying that we never sat down and told her what we thought was acceptable behaviour, what wasn't, and what we expect of her. Now, can we discuss this later, Taylor?' he asked wearily.

Taylor nodded and settled back into the bed. She lay there awake until just before her alarm was set to go off. Moving slowly so as not to disturb Flack, who was frowning in his sleep, she slid out of the bed and stopped the alarm from going off and quietly got dressed. On her way down the stairs, she stuck her head into Riley's room to make sure she was up.

The ride to Riley's school was painfully quiet, despite the iPod playing softly in the background. As far as Taylor was concerned she was grateful to arrive at the school and drop her off.

She was pulling away when the temperature dipped. With a frustrated sigh, she half turned her head and smiled at the ghost of the dead guidance councillor. 'I'm going to the precinct now,' she told him.

'You have to stop them,' he told her.

'I know,' she told him, rubbing at the corner of her eye with her middle finger.

'I wish I had Jessie's girl...'

Taylor leant over turned her iPhone off. 'I swear I deleted that song yesterday,' she grumbled to herself. She turned to the ghost of Robert. 'I'm really going.'

'How'd the disciplining go?' Maddy asked her.

'She's grounded,' Taylor shrugged.

'Like that stopped me.'

'Don't you have a couple of murder victims to supervise?' Taylor shot back at her.

Maddy held her hands up. 'Jeeze, take it out on the dead, why don't you, chica?' she complained to Taylor before taking the hint and disappearing.

Taylor made her way back into Manhattan and called in at McDonalds for a couple of breakfast meals on her way to the precinct. She had heard Flack moving about in the bedroom as she left the house and figured he had gone straight into the precinct. If it was her boss in the same situation, she would have done the same thing.

She frowned. Alright, if it was Alex she would have done the same thing. Nancy, maybe not so much.

She gathered the bag of food and drinks in her arms and fought her way into the precinct, trying to protect the breakfast meals from Davis and Sully who were tyring to steal it from her. She ducked under their arms, twirling past, and dashed into the detective's shared area.

Flack wasn't at his desk, but Grace was sat opposite.

'You bought me breakfast?' she said, smiling.

Taylor forced a smile and, feeling guilty, handed her breakfast over to the blonde detective. 'Where is Don?' she asked, trying to keep herself from ripping the bacon and egg McMuffin back off her.

'In with a suspect,' Grace said, before taking a big bite.

Taylor got to her feet. 'Tell him this was for him, assuming it's not too cold when he's done,' she told her. She took one last, longing look at her breakfast and walked away. 'I'm too nice,' she muttered under her breath.

She was mid way through the door when a shortish, balding man with glasses came bursting through the door, Bosco trying desperately to stop him.

'Where's my son?' he demanded angrily. 'I want to see my son! Where the hell is he?'

'Hey!' Bosco retorted, still not having managed to learn a degree of self restraint. 'Calm down!'

The man glared at him as he continued to try and work his way past him. 'No, I will not calm down. I want to talk to my son.'

'It's okay, Bosco,' came Flack's voice as he made his way over to step between the two men. 'Can I help you sir?'

'I'm Jesse's father. Is he in there?' the man demanded. 'What are you doing to him?'

'We're not doing anything to him, Mr.?' Flack asked.

'Wallace Carver,' the man told him. 'Now I want all questions to stop. I've called a lawyer and he's on his way.'

'Mr Carver, your son is not a suspect,' Flack assured him calmly. 'We're just asking him some questions.'

'Yeah, I'm sure it's been very cordial,' Mr. Carver agreed, sarcasm lacing his tone. 'Is he under arrest?' he demanded.

'Now just hold-' Flack started.

Mr. Carver cut him off. 'Then I am taking my son home,' he informed him, before stepping around him to where his son was waiting.

'You look tired,' Taylor said, joining Flack.

'I'll be happier when this case is wrapped up,' Flack admitted. 'I just have a really bad feeling.'

'I need to get to the office,' Taylor sighed. 'But if you get the chance come by?'

'I doubt I'll get the chance unless we wrap this case up early. We need a new lead. You have anything?'

Taylor shook her head. 'Just that there were two of them involved.'

---

Taylor was sat her desk, rolling her head around her neck to stretch out her muscles as she tried to write something about the Taxi Cab Killer. Nancy had decided that Taylor and Reed needed to come up with something new. Which was exceptionally hard considering the CSIs had nothing new, neither did the ghosts, and there, thankfully, hadn't been another killing.

'I think the AC is shot,' Reed said suddenly.

Taylor looked over at him, spotting the group of ghosts standing around them, before she saw him rubbing at his arms. 'It's only the beginning of April. We don't need it on, really. Why don't you go grab a coffee or something?'

Reed nodded. 'Good idea. You want?'

Taylor shook her head, watching him leave, before turning to the collection of ghosts. After thinking that there hadn't been a new victim from the Taxi Cab Killer, she was almost too scared to count the ghosts, less she had jinxed it and he'd struck again. Thankfully, their numbers hadn't increased.

'You have to stop them,' the ghost of Robert told them.

Taylor sighed. 'You keep telling me that, but you don't give me anything to go on,' she told him.

All of a sudden, the office burst into music. Blasting from both the computers, as well as her phone, completely in sync, came Rick Springfield.

'What the hell?' Taylor cried as she went to yank her speakers from the tower. Only, when the cable was removed, the music continued to play. She stared in amazement at the cable in her hands, before her gaze fell on Greg. 'This is you, isn't it?' she shouted over the music.

The music hushed some. 'You have to stop them,' the ghost repeated.

'Stop who?' Taylor asked.

'I wish that I had Jessie's Girl...'

Taylor's head fell to the desk. 'I can't believe I haven't picked up on this sooner,' she mumbled into the old oak. Her head lifted from the table. 'Alright, I get it, you can kill the music,' she told the ghost as Reed appeared.

She looked over at her office companion. He was standing in the doorway, cup of coffee in one hand, his mouth hanging open at the music blasting into the room.

The ghosts disappeared, taking the music with them.

'What is it with you and that song?' he asked, sitting back down behind his desk to examine his computer.

Taylor just shrugged.

'My speakers aren't even turned on,' he told her, eyeing her suspiciously.

'Don't look at me,' Taylor told him. 'I was sat over here when that stopped playing.'

Reed frowned. 'I swear this office is haunted sometimes.'

'You have no idea,' Taylor muttered under her breath as she dialled Flack's number. 'Hey,' she said when he answered. 'You need to get Jesse back in.'

There was a deep inhalation of breath down the phone. 'What do you know?'

Taylor shook her head, even though he couldn't see her. 'Honestly, not a clue. But if I have to listen to Jessie's Girl one more time, I may go mad.'

'Lindsay's in with Natalie Gerrard at the moment.'

'And?' Taylor pushed.

'He raped her.'

Taylor's mouth dropped open. 'Who did?'

'Jesse.'

'Oh hell,' Taylor muttered.

'I should go. I should find Jesse and haul his ass in. I'll see you later. Love you.'

'Love you too,' Taylor told him.

---

Lindsay walked into the door and locked it behind her, making sure that the safety bolts were in place. Wearily she walked into the living room, surprised to find it lit by a few dozen candles. Waiting for her, in the middle of the room, was Danny, holding out a bottle of Budweiser.

'What's this for?' Lindsay asked in surprise, taking the ice cold beer out of his hand.

'Because I know you've had a bit of a crappy day.'

'Understatement,' Lindsay sighed as she reached up to kiss him.

'I have more than beer,' Danny told her, leading her to the couch. He sat down and pulled her down next to him, tucking her under her arm. With his free hand he reached for the remote and turned the TV on.

Lindsay pulled a face as P.S. I Love You came on. 'You want to watch a chick flick?'

'I know you want to watch a chick flick,' he told her.

Lindsay relaxed into him. 'I love you.'

Danny looked down and poked her nose. 'Love you too, Montana.'

'I haven't heard that in a while,' Lindsay smiled.

'I tell you I love you all the time,' Danny told her.

'Montana,' Lindsay explained. 'You stopped calling me that,' she sighed as she snuggled into him.

'How are you doing?' Danny asked her softly.

'I don't know,' Lindsay admitted. 'I hate cases involving kids. She should still be innocent, not hiding her dress in a plastic bag in the back of her closet because she knows there could be DNA evidence on it. And you know what?' she asked him. 'There was DNA on it, belonging to two grown men. Grown men who were posing as a kid and his father so they could have sex with young girls. It just makes me sick, Danny.'

Danny sighed as he gently stroked Lindsay's hair. 'But we got them, Linds. They can't hurt any other kids where they're going.'

Lindsay shrugged. 'It just makes me doubt whether I want to bring a kid into this world.'

'You can't think like that,' Danny told her. 'You've got to remember that there is good out there. Look at Greg Roberts.'

'Yeah,' Lindsay frowned. 'Look at him. He's dead because he tried to help.'

---

Taylor was half asleep when she heard the shower turn on. She poked an eye open to look at the bright digital display of the clock. It was just gone three in the morning. She yawned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and plumped the pillows up behind her head before reaching for the television remote. She flicked it on, turning the sound down as low as possible, to watch a late night re-run of Law and Order. It wasn't until the end credits rolled and the preview for the following episode came on that she realised that the shower was still running and Flack had yet to emerge.

Taylor pulled the covers back and pulled a dressing gown on over the large NYPD t-shirt of Flack's she had stolen to sleep in, and padded over to the bathroom. The door was unlocked, and when Flack didn't respond to her gentle knocking, she pushed the door open.

Flack was in the shower, both hands outstretched to the tiles in front of him, with his head bowed – the water pounding down on the back of his neck and shoulders. With a frown, Taylor continued to the shower and gently tapped on the glass. Flack turned his head, stared blankly at her for a moment, and then dropped his head back into its original position. His eyes were red, and Taylor couldn't work out if it was because he'd been crying, or because he'd been in the shower for so long. For some reason, she was certain the reason was the former.

Without even bothering to strip, she stepped into the shower fully clothed. She reached out, grabbing the strained bicep, and pulled it towards her, turning Flack to face her. He stared at her for the longest time, before he finally collapsed into her shoulder.

Taylor led them backwards, out of the immediate jet of the shower spray and sat them both down against the wall. With her arm draped over his shoulder, pulling him to her, she waited for him to rest his head against her shoulder, before she leant her cheek against his wet head. Her other hand sought out his hand, lacing her fingers through his.

Finally, and only after the water had started to run cold, Flack stood suddenly and turned the water off. He turned back to Taylor and held a hand out. She took it, remaining as silent as he, and followed him out of the shower. As he pulled a towel around himself, Taylor pulled the wet items off and flung them in the bathtub before reaching for the towel Flack was offering her. As she tucked the towel around herself, he draped another one over her head and gently began to rub her at her hair.

With a sigh, Taylor reached up and grabbed his hand, stopping his rubbing. 'Don, what happened?' she asked gently.

Flack's deep blue eyes met hers. Still clutching the towel to her head, he leant forward and pressed his lips against her forehead. 'I love you, Taylor,' he said, finally.

'Come on,' Taylor told him, ducking under his arms and leading him into the bedroom, where she sat him down on the side of the bed. She hurried over to the TV and switched it off before she sat down next to him. She stared at him in the dim light which was coming from the digital clock. He was looking at the floor in front of his feet and he looked... worried. 'Don, what happened?' she repeated.

'We caught the guys who killed the teacher,' he told her, his voice gravely.

Taylor nodded. Mr Greggs had been to thank her, so she knew his killers had been arrested.

'I've been on the job a long time, but I've never seen anything like this. Forged transcripts, standardised tests, fake letters from schools he never attended. It's sick,' he told her. 'They faked everything so that they could molester kids. They raped Gerrard's daughter, Taylor,' he sighed without looking at her.

Taylor reached for his hand. 'Don, you caught them. Where they're going, they're not going to be able to hurt anyone again.'

'Jesse Carver's dead,' Flack told her.

Taylor blinked. 'What?'

'Gerrard walked into the interview room and shot him.'

Taylor's mouth hung open. 'He did what?'

Flack sighed. 'And now he's waiting to see what his bail's set to.'

Taylor shut her eyes, processing what Flack had just told her, then twisted on the bed to see him, bringing her leg up beneath her. 'Well I can't say I blame him,' she muttered.

'I did the same thing,' Flack told her quietly.

'If someone did something like that to Cordelia, or even Riley, a bullet would be the easy way out. Because my option would be castration with a spoon,' she told him, misunderstanding what he had said.

Flack pulled his hand from hers and got to his feet. Silently, he pulled a pair of jogging bottoms and a t-shirt. 'I'm gonna get a drink.'

Taylor watched him walk out without giving her the chance to respond. She licked her lips and got to her feet herself, drying her body and pulling on a fresh pair of pyjamas. She sat down at the dressing table, switching the lamp on, and brushed her hair, before braiding it back from her face. Taylor turned the light out and was about to get into bed when she realised that the room was getting lighter. A quick consultation with the clock revealed that it was nearly five am.

She headed downstairs and into the kitchen. The light was off and the door to the back yard was ajar. Taylor headed for it and pulled it open, finding Flack on the back step, smoking. 'Since when do you smoke?' she asked him, sitting down beside him.

Flack shrugged, taking a long drag. 'A while.'

'You've hidden it well,' Taylor told him.

'We should move,' he said suddenly, flicking the stub off the cigarette away so that the remains flared as it hit the ground.

Taylor turned to stare at him. 'Where to?'

'Somewhere that you can see the stars,' he told her, looking up at the dull, cloudy sky, which was slowly turning a pink colour as the sun rose.

'What? Like Jersey?' she asked.

Flack shook his head. 'I was thinking somewhere more like Arkansas.'

Taylor's eyebrows shot up. 'Arkansas?' she repeated. 'That's a bit of a commute.'

Flack shrugged. 'Who said anything about commuting?'

'You want to,' Taylor frowned. 'Quit?'

Flack reached down for the packet of Marlboro Light's next to him and tapped a fresh one out. He stuck it in his mouth and lit it, inhaling deeply before he put the lighter back down next to him and exhaled. 'Maybe I just want to buy a ranch and own a couple of horses in the middle of nowhere. Get away from all the crap that's in this city.'

Taylor bit her lip. 'Don, bad things happen in rural places too, you know. You can't escape it completely. You just get loaded with different crap.'

Flack sighed a puff of smoke and bowed his head. 'I know.'

'Look, I don't blame Gerrard for doing what he did, I really don't. And if the position was reversed, I don't know what I'd do in it. But he knew what he was doing.'

'I know he did,' Flack told her. He turned to her, meeting her eyes. 'Taylor, what I said earlier...'

'That you'd do the same thing?' she asked. 'Your human, Don. It doesn't matter who you are, if something like that happened to your own family, you'd consider it. You may not follow through with it, but you'd certainly consider it.'

'I did.'

Taylor nodded. 'There's nothing wrong with that.'

'No,' Flack said, shaking his head. 'I mean, I did follow through with it.'

Taylor looked at him, confused. 'I don't understand.'

'I practically did the same thing Gerrard did,' he told her.

'What do you mean?' Taylor asked him, still puzzled at his meaning.

Flack sighed and stated tapping the filter end of the cigarette on his knees, sending ash dancing in the air. 'Felix Bohr.'

Taylor could feel herself tense up, but she forced herself to continue. 'And what about... him?'

'I shot him, Taylor,' Flack admitted. 'I shot him in cold blood. I hunted him down and I unloaded my clip into him. He was unarmed, and I shot him. Officer Yip died in the process. And I told IAB that I shot Bohr in defence. You weren't even dead, Taylor. That makes me far worse than Gerrard,' he muttered then last bit as his gaze dropped to the floor, his eyes full of shame.

Taylor stared at him, trying to work out if she had heard him correctly. 'Look, I wasn't there, but from what I can gather, you were in a very dark place when I was in hospital.'

Flack's head snapped round. 'And you think that justifies the fact that I killed a man in cold blood?' he cried.

Taylor winced at his biting tone.

'I looked him in the eyes, and I shot him, even though he was unarmed.'

'I don't know what to say,' Taylor admitted quietly.

'There's not much you can say,' Flack returned. 'What I did makes me no better than him.'

'Gerrard did the same thing,' Taylor said softly.

'Gerrard's baby girl had been raped by the guy he shot.'

'And I was shot by Bohr,' Taylor pointed out. 'As was Louie.'

Flack shot her a scathing look. 'And yet you don't see Danny on a mission to kill him.'

Taylor frowned. 'I'm not sure you'd class you as going on a mission to kill him.'

Flack finally faced Taylor, his tear lined eyes filled with guilt. 'But I did, Taylor. I made it my mission to hunt him down and kill him. I should have just let the system that I work for, that I believed in, do its thing.' He shut his eyes and swallowed. 'You know, the FBI profilers have a name for someone like me: a vigilante.'

'I don't think that something you did in the heat of the moment-'

'Taylor, you're not listening,' Flack interrupted. 'There was no heat of the moment. I spent weeks tracking him down and I knew exactly what I was going to do when I found.'

Taylor sat in silence, staring at the weeds that were poking through the cracks in the concrete of the small yard. 'Well, either way, I, for one, am glad he's dead,' she muttered.

'And either way, I shouldn't have done it,' Flack told her.

'Okay,' Taylor said calmly. 'So what do you want to do?'

Flack sighed, lowering his head to his hands. 'I don't know,' he admitted. 'But I can't stand the fact that Gerrard is, at the very least, going to lose his badge, whereas I'm sat here acting like nothing happened.

Taylor leaned over, wrapping her arms around his. 'Whatever you decide, Don, I'm here. I will support whatever decision you make. But, and I will say this,' she said clearly. 'I do think that turning yourself in is the wrong choice. You're a good cop, Don. A damn good one. And if there's nothing else I believe in, I believe that you'd never do anything like that again.'

Flack sighed again. 'I wish I could believe that, Taylor. But the fact is, if the same thing was to happen again, I don't know what I'd do.'

'Well,' said Taylor, firmly. 'I'd best not let it happen again then, had I?'

Flack pulled his arm free and draped it over her shoulder, pulling her close. 'You know I love you, right?'

'Of course,' Taylor told him.

'I still don't know where to go from here, though,' he admitted.

'Well what's going to make you feel better?' she asked him.

Flack thought about it. 'I guess making sure that no one else is ever put in that position again.'

'Well then,' Taylor said, turning in his arms to look up at him. 'You go back out there and you be the best cop you can be.'

Flack rose to his feet. 'I hope it's that simple,' he told her, flicking the cigarette away and disappearing back inside, leaving Taylor on the step.

She sighed, staring at the still glowing butt. 'Another smoker,' she muttered, although it was the least important thing going around her head.

So how long will two chapters keep y'all satisifed before I have to post again?!

I just want to say a big thanks to all of you who keep sending me pms and emails, and also, thanks for all the favorite and alert adds!