A/N: Sydney and Gage and Walker: Texas Ranger are owned by their creators. I'm just borrowing them for a minute or two. This is set after Deadly Situations after the "talk" Gage and Sydney have in the gym. Hope you enjoy the story!
Talking...
Texas Ranger Sydney Cooke leaned against the car, waiting for her partner, lost in thought.
'Uggh, I am such an idiot. First I kiss Gage, not that it was bad by any means, but then the only thing I can ask is if he wants a beer. That's it, does he want a beer? I could see the hurt, the confusion in his eyes. And after what he said about finding the right guy, something that will never happen.' The little, rebellious voice in the back of mind tried to get a word in edgewise, but she ignored it. 'And then I never mentioned it again. When he does, I tell him it wasn't real and kick him in the head as a "kiss". And I thought he was going to kiss me. Arrggghhh! Idiot. He's my partner, I cannot, will not think of him that way. Why does he have to be so nice and caring and cute and... and… And now everything is ruined. He won't talk to me. I can't talk to him. He's so cold...'
Her thoughts were interrupted by the man of the hour.
"Let's go, you drive." With that, he settled in the passenger seat.
'Arrrggghhhh!' Sydney looked to the sky and tried not to kick the car. 'This has got to stop!.' Taking a deep breath, she climbed into the car, started it and pulled away from the curb.
They pulled onto the empty highway and started home to Dallas. The car was silent, not an entirely comfortable quiet. Gage stared determinedly out the window, lost in thought, very obviously not wanting to talk. Sydney concentrated on driving and not speaking, the thoughts whirling away in her head. Her stomach was twisted in knots. In the time she had known Gage, they had never done this, never not talked about what was bothering one of them. She pressed her lips into a thin line and kept driving.
Two hours later, Gage gave an annoyed grunt and shifted in his seat.
"You okay?" Syd asked, out of habit more than anything.
"No, not really," Gage returned shortly.
"Ummm, anything I can do?"
"I really don't know, Syd," he started sarcastically. "I tried to talk to you about this earlier and all I got was a kick in the head. I'm not sure I want to try again."
"I didn't mean it."
"What, like the kiss? The kick in the head wasn't real either?"
Syd glanced at him, surprised at the annoyance and hurt that was still in his eyes. She pulled the car over to the side of the road.
"What are you doing?"
"We need to talk."
He looked at her in disbelief. "You're just now figuring that out? Where were you yesterday?!" he exploded. He watched as her expression was caught somewhere between fury and crushed. It teetered on the edge and her lip quivered as she fought for control.
"I was pinned under someone," she hissed angrily, "who was trying to have a very inappropriate conversation in the wrong place with a million people around that I didn't know. I was trying my best but you weren't listening. You were just assuming, as usual, that I would go along with what ever you had in mind at the time. And you always do that. You always assume that I am going to do just exactly what you expect or... or want to do. Always! How on earth was I supposed to know what you were thinking?"
Gage looked at her for a moment. "Are you finished?"
"For the moment."
"Good. Let me tell you just what I was thinking. I was thinking that I had gotten a great kiss from a beautiful woman who I had just poured my heart out to earlier even though she didn't recognize it and then I get asked if I want a beer and then have to sit there next to her in the most uncomfortable moment of my life. I was then closed out by the same woman for more than a week, nothing but work and paperwork, none of the usual friendship things we used to do. And now, I try to ask about it and I get kicked, in the head mind, by the same woman. And now, I am supposed to be hunky-dory about the whole thing? I don't think so."
She watched, stunned as stormed out of the car and slammed the door. He paced along side the car. He was so mad, she half expected him to just keep on walking down the highway. She put her forehead on the steering wheel. 'How could I have gotten this so wrong?'
He got out of the car, wanting, needing to move and slammed the door behind him. He walked up and down the highway for a bit, half thinking about walking the 300 miles back to Dallas. It would better than fighting with Syd. He finally leaned against the car, somewhat surprised she hadn't left him there and concentrated on staring at the horizon.
How had he gotten everything so wrong? He liked her, a lot. Best friend. Partner. The person he would have trusted with anything. The bolt from the blue hit him like a ton of bricks. He was falling, hard, for her. It just made him madder at himself. Why had he picked the gym of all places to try to talk to her about that. But it had seemed like a good idea at the time. What a joke he was. He sighed and stared at the horizon again.
He heard her get out of the car, closing the door much more quietly than he had.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, coming around the car to lean next to him. Her arms were tightly crossed as if she were trying to hold herself together. She started to say something, shook her head and started again. "I didn't realize that it meant anything to you. I thought it was just being happy that Walker and Alex were safe and the tension. I'm so sorry."
He sighed and crossed his own arms, staring at his shoes. "So, it didn't mean anything to you?"
She gave a shaky laugh. "It did. I'm just starting to realize how much. You have no idea how much that scares me. You are my partner, my best friend. The one that I see every day and work with. Do you have any idea what this could do to us? I don't want to hate you."
He wanted, badly, to wrap an arm around her shoulders, pull her close, but knew that would be the worst possible thing to do right then. She'd close herself off and everything really would fall apart. "Syd," he started, looking down at the scrub brush in front of him, "You mean the world to me. I can't do anything that would hurt you, not on purpose. I don't think we could ever hate each other. Yell and scream, maybe," he gave a short laugh, "But hate, no." He took a deep breath. It was now or never. "I think we should give ourselves a chance."
"What do you mean?" she asked slowly.
"Just that I think we can be more than best friends and partners."
She was quiet for a long time. Finally, she looked at him, a cautious look on her face. "I'll have to think about this. About us. It's not going to be easy you know."
"I know, but the good things usually aren't." He pulled her into the hug they both needed at that point. "I will give you all the time you need. I'm not going to force this on you. That wouldn't be right for either of us, besides," he grinned, "you have one heck of a kick."
She hugged him tightly. "Thank you," she said softly, knowing she didn't have to explain for what. "Are we okay, for now anyway?"
He kissed the top of her head and released her. "Yeah, we're okay." Things were still a little shaky between them, but it would be stable again soon. They always righted themselves somehow. He gave her a small smile. "Come on, everyone's gonna wonder where we are if we don't get going."
They got back in the car and continued on into Dallas. Neither needed to say anything, just enjoyed the comfortable, soft quiet.