A/N: Hey Walker fans! It's been a really long time since I've written for you guys and I hope there's still some of you out there. In the past year or so things have been very hectic and I've all but stopped writing for anything but recently I really wanted to get started again. I started going back through old stories for inspiration but the only thing I found myself wanting to do was revise those stories. Survival in the Mountains was one story I wasn't ever really satisfied with. So here's my new and improved version. I took the old reviews into consideration and made this longer and hopefully better. So without further adieu, here's the first chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Walker, Texas Ranger or any of its characters.

Summary: Sydney and Gage are flying back from Christmas with Syd's family and Julie when their plane crashes in Colorado. Will they survive the harsh Rocky Mountain weather with no way to contact the nearest town 100 miles away?

Survival in the Mountains: Revised Edition

Chapter 1

"Oh come on Gage," Sydney was saying, "You must have eaten at least six pies in the last two days."

"No way, Syd; the most I ate was three, three and a half at the most," Gage protested causing Sydney to snicker.

"And you call that control? Two of them were at my parents' house alone."

Gage and Sydney were on their way back from California where Syd's parents lived in a rather small but charming house. They'd purchased it two years before when they moved from Texas after retiring from their lifelong careers, Sydney's mom as a school teacher and her father as the town's judge.

Before that they had been with Julie, Gage's sister in Fort Worth for a few days. She was still an investigative reporter and gaining more and more recognition for her pieces. She also had a new boyfriend, who shockingly was able to gain Gage's approval with little trouble.

Now the two were in a small puddle-jumper of a plane, piloted by Gage, and thoroughly enjoying teasing each other about the little things that had happened over the course of their week-long vacation.

"I was just trying to give my regards to the cook. You know, your mom is amazing in the kitchen."

"Wow, Gage, was that almost a compliment?"

Gage shook his head. "I was so close to extending that 'almost' compliment to your own cooking skills but after that remark, I think I'm just going to forget it."

Sydney laughed. "I think I can handle it. I'm pretty confident with my culinary expertise, which I'm positive extends way beyond the various kinds of toast." When he didn't shoot back an additional comeback, Sydney knew she'd finally bested Gage in that discussion.

Out of things to say for the moment, they lapsed into a quiet but comfortable silence. Sydney turned her head to look out the window at the scenery rushing by below them. She was a little disappointed that they were heading home. Things were only going to return to normal and another year would soon end without things happening between her and Gage like she so desperately wanted. They were so close to finally admitting their feelings to each other and Sydney knew it would only take a few more days alone together for that to happen. Too bad that's not going to happen, she thought unhappily.

They had only been in the air for about an hour when Gage realized that something wasn't right. The plane had started acting strangely but all the gages showed that everything was working normally. Determined to keep from scaring Sydney, he kept his worries to himself but then the plane began sputtering. Before they knew it, the engine quit and refused to restart, no matter how many times Gage tried to coax it to work. It was then that they both realized they were in desperate need of help. As each second passed the plane was losing more and more altitude and there was no sign of anywhere to land. It was all trees.

"Gage, what are we going to do?" Sydney asked with worry evident in her voice.

"It's okay Syd. It'll all be okay. I just have to find somewhere to safe to put this thing down and then we can figure out what to do next." With one glance in her direction Gage saw that his attempts to calm her nerves were failing horribly. He tried a different approach. "Syd, why don't you try radioing someone so we can get some help?"

Sydney tried but no one was answering her pleas. They were too far out and their radio couldn't reach anyone or anything. She looked helplessly in her partner's direction but saw he wasn't paying any attention. He was just staring out the windshield, his grip so tight on the yoke that his knuckles were turning white. Sydney followed his gaze and realized the problem. They were dangerously low; the tops of the trees were so close that she was sure she could just reach down and touch them.

Just then the steering failed and Gage lost all control of the already unresponsive plane. They were going down, fast, right into the middle of all those trees. "Sydney, get down!" he shouted, "We're going to crash!"

Sydney screamed and ducked down, trying to take up as little space as possible, as Gage tried one last time to restart the plane or at least control the landing but it was too late. As he too covered his head, they hit the ground, crashing through trees as if they were nothing but twigs for what seemed like forever until the plane finally crashed into a huge tree, one the size of four trees put together. The abrupt stop was enough to force both rangers into the dashboard, knocking both unconscious.