This one is from Justice Delayed. Again, any lines that seem familiar are from the episode and do not belong to me. Comments and constructive criticism welcomed and encouraged.
Justice Delayed
Gage sat at his desk, holding a small stretchy black shirt and imagining what his partner was going to look like wearing it. He was surprised at just how easily he could visualize it and also at how much he enjoyed the image. He knew his partner was beautiful and had an incredible body, but it was surprising to him just how eager he was to see her wearing the skimpy top that he held in his hands. At the same time, he was almost as eager to see her reaction to the news that she had to wear it. He wiped the smile from his face and quickly shoved the shirt beneath his desk as Sydney walked into the room, flipping through a file. He wasn't ready for her to have any clues about what he was about to tell her.
He waited until she had settled in behind her desk directly across from him before he spoke. "So Syd. I've got some good news and some bad news."
"Okay," Syd said, not looking up from the papers she was flipping through.
"I talked to my source and I found out that Russo eats lunch everyday at the Million Dollar Saloon like clockwork." He noticed that he had her full attention now, and was unsurprised at her next comment.
"That's a strip-"
Gage cut her off before she could complete the sentence. "Yes, it is a gentlemen's club." He ignored her as she rolled her eyes and continued without hesitation, pulling out the shirt from under his desk as he spoke. "And of course one of us is gonna have to go undercover, and um, well, I don't think that I can fit into this, so..." He pulled slightly at the bottom of the small garment, noticing the look of distaste on her face and struggling to keep back his smile.
Syd looked over at the small black shirt, knowing that it was going to be much tighter than she normally liked her clothing, but knowing also that she had to do it if they wanted to solve this case. The shirt would be uncomfortable, just as the time she would be forced to spend in the strip club would be uncomfortable. She glared at her partner, daring him to let that smile he was fighting spread across his face. "So, Gage, what's the good news?"
"They have a great buffet," he responded, not realizing until it was too late what he had just said.
Desperate not to hear Gage start talking about his time spent at the strip club, she raised her hand to stop him from speaking. "Never mind."
"I mean, I've heard," he stuttered, blinking hard as the implications of what he had just said registered with him.
Syd just shook her head, wondering why she loved this man as much as she did
Well, she was right. The shirt was far more than skin tight, in addition to being very low cut, and incredibly uncomfortable, just like the matching pair of black pants that she was wearing. It had been rather embarrassing when she had first met up with Gage once she was wearing the outfit. She knew that he was seeing a lot more of her than he ever had before, as the shocked look on his face proved, as his eyes had lingered everywhere but on her face. She had seen the slight flush of embarrassment as he realized what he was doing, and had been relieved that at least she wasn't the only one embarrassed by the situation.
Now, she was stuck waiting on men who were constantly grabbing her ass, and who wouldn't stop hitting on her. She was getting very frustrated with males in general, and knew that if Gage was at all distracted by the practically naked women dancing on the raised stage once he was in the main room, that she would have to pummel him during their next joint workout.
She walked towards Russo's table once again, distributing the salads to the three men while paying close attention to Russo's phone conversation. She had started to turn and was about to walk away when he held the phone against his chest and spoke to her.
"Hey, where's Edie?"
Syd smiled disarmingly and answered according to the cover they had set up for her. "Well her mother's in the hospital, so Vittorio gave her the week off." She paused and smiled enticingly at the jerk in front of her. "But, um, I'll take good care of you."
"I'm sure you will."
The temptation to slam her fist into the man's face almost overwhelmed her as he smirked at her. Instead, she walked away from him, heading back to where Gage and Vittorio, the club's owner were waiting for her.
"So, did you do what you came here to do yet?" Vittorio asked, eager to get the two Texas Rangers out of his establishment.
"Not yet, Vittorio." Syd sighed in frustration as she set down the tray she was carrying.
"Is this guy ever gonna get off the phone?" Gage complained, eager to get this over with. For the past twenty minutes he had watched countless men grab his partner's ass and hit on her endlessly. Every time one of those creeps touched her, he was tempted, probably just as much as she was, to twist their arm off. Now, he was watching for Russo to put his cell phone down so that they could finally plant the bug and he could get his partner out of there and out of those clothes she was wearing. He had to admit, it was distracting seeing her in the skin tight outfit, and he was just trying to concentrate on the case they were working on, instead of on what an amazing body his Syd had.
He sighed in relief as he saw Russo finally set the cellphone down on the table.
"All right, he's done," Syd said, reaching to set Russo's food order on the tray.
"All right, let's plant the bug," Gage replied, looking to his partner to make sure she was ready.
"I've got it right here. We'll hear every thing within a twenty foot radius," Syd said as she pulled the alternate cellphone battery from the back of her pants.
Gage couldn't help but wonder how she had managed to hide anything in those clothes she was wearing. He shook himself out of his thoughts and got ready to help her plant the bug. "Okay, give me just a couple minutes to get into position," he said as he walked out of the small back room and to the other side of the club across from where Russo was sitting.
Syd watched him walk away from her and got ready for what they were about to do. She grabbed the tray with Russo's food on it and started to cross the room.
"You know something, baby?" Russo asked as he grabbed onto her arm to keep her from leaving. "You cut quite a figure here."
"Well, thank you," she said as she tried to pull back from him, and gave up when she realized he wouldn't let go of her arm.
"Well, you're welcome. Make some real money." Russo let go of her arm to reach out and tap the edge of the stage, clearly suggesting that she join the strippers and dance for him.
"You know what? I can't dance," Syd lied, revolted at the idea of dancing for this creep.
"I could teach you." He smirked at her and she had to restrain herself from slapping him. Instead she simply laughed and turned to walk away from him, knowing that Gage was on his way across the room.
In the meantime, a little ways away Gage was watching and listening to everything that Russo and Syd were saying. Just hearing Russo call Syd 'baby' and watching the way his eyes hungrily devoured her body filled Gage with a jealous anger. When Russo suggested that she dance for him, his anger turned to something close to rage. He saw her start to back away from the table, and knew that it was time for him to provide the needed distraction. He stormed up to them, not needing to fake his anger, just having to redirect it slightly.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey," he said as he reached out and grabbed onto Syd's arm to turn her back to face him, careful not to hurt her. Still she cried out slightly as he spun her to face him. "Where were you last night? I called you fifteen times." In reality, Gage knew exactly where she was last night, having spent the night at his apartment with her for dinner and a movie. This wasn't the time for fond memories, however, so he switched his focus back to maintaining his jealous anger.
"I was working, what do you think?" Syd's tone was frustrated seemingly at having to go through this once again, but at the same time she was also thinking back to how she had spent last night. She turned her attention back to the role she was playing as Gage continued to yell at her.
"What do I think? I think maybe you were here with this guy." He gestured to Russo angrily, wishing he could smack the smug look off the bastard's face. "Is that where you were?"
"Oh give me a break, let go of me," Syd protested over Gage's angry yelling.
"Were you here with him?" Gage accused.
"No!!" Syd yelled defensively, glad to finally be able to show some of her disgust at the idea of spending a night with Russo.
"Hey, down punk. Easy boy, you don't know who you're messing with here. Take a walk," Russo threatened.
"Yea, maybe I don't know who I'm messing with, why don't I buy you a drink?" Gage said as he reached down and grabbed Russo's drink, throwing it in his face with no small amount of pleasure. It was only seconds later that Gage was grabbed from behind by one of Russo's men, while Sydney handed a napkin to Russo. While he was blinded and his men were occupied fighting with Gage, Syd quickly switched the battery on Russo's phone with the bugged one.
Gage kicked the feet out from under one of the men before getting loose from the man holding his arms behind him. With only a couple more punches and kicks, the two men were both on the ground.
"Come on, why don't you get up? Come on!" Gage taunted them, trying to buy Syd a few more seconds. Now, Russo was up and his two men were quick to follow. One of them grabbed him from behind, holding his arms behind him and Syd threatened him with a bottle she had grabbed from a nearby table.
"Get out here before I break your head. Go." It was weird for Sydney to be threatening her partner and her best friend, even though she knew that she would never ever follow through with the threat. She communicated silently to Gage that they had accomplished what they had set out to do and that it was time for him to leave.
"Get off of me," he growled, shaking off the man holding onto him from behind. Then he turned back to Syd and said one final line before walking away. "Hey, you know, you're not worth it."
Syd was shocked as she felt pain stab through her from his last comment. She knew that it was just his way of explaining his sudden change in mood so that he could leave, but still, the words had stung. She shook herself out of her pain and turned back to Russo, trying to wipe some of the alcohol from his face. He grabbed the napkin away from her angrily and stared after Gage as he left. Syd sighed in relief as she was finally able to turn and walk away from Russo's table. She still would have to stick around at the club a little longer to avoid having Russo get suspicious, but she didn't have to spend as much time in his company now that the bug had been successfully planted.
"Wanna make sure to put the tape in this time?" Gage teased as Syd set up the listening equipment. They were parked in front of Russo's building, waiting to try and get a recording of some evidence against the man.
"Very funny," Syd said sarcastically, continuing to adjust the equipment.
Gage sat back, realizing that, thanks to Trivette's big mouth, Walker now was spending his time picking out china patterns and preparing for his upcoming wedding. "You know I never figured Walker for the marrying type."
Syd looked over at him incredulously. "Are you kidding? Walker's the perfect marrying type. He's ethical, he's honest, caring, strong. What else could a woman want?" Add intelligent, funny, and incredibly handsome to that list, and she had just described the man sitting next to her. And she did want him, desperately. However, it didn't much look like that was going to be happening anytime soon.
"No, no, no, it's not that," Gage replied, knowing perfectly well why Alex wanted to marry Walker. It was what made Walker want to marry Alex that confused him. "It's just that him and Alex have such a good thing going, and you know how sometimes as soon as you tie the knot, a relationship kinda goes south?" Gage asked as he looked at Syd, knowing from her expression that she did not agree with what he had just said.
"Oh that is so bogus. Do you know how many times when you tie the knot, it enriches a relationship, maybe brings it to another level?" She was incredibly jealous of Alex, not because she had any desire for a relationship with Walker, but merely because Alex had a relationship with the man she loved, while Syd was arguing over the virtues of marriage with the man she loved, who would probably never see her as more than a friend.
Gage opened his mouth to continue the argument and then suddenly realized who he was talking to. Sometimes it got confusing having your best friend be a woman. There were things that they viewed from totally different perspectives, and no matter how much they argued over it, they would never agree. Gage had a feeling that this was going to be one of those arguments. "Ah, never mind, it's kind of a guy thing, you wouldn't understand."
Syd looked at him incredulously. A guy thing? She wouldn't understand? He was not going to get out of this that easily. "Wait, it's kind of a what?"
He sighed. He should have known she wouldn't have liked his way of dismissing the conversation. He turned to face her and leaned towards her, looking directly into her eyes. "They don't call it the old ball and chain for nothing!"
She saw the teasing glint in his ice blue eyes as what he had just said registered with her. "Oh, get out. Out!" she said, noticing the huge smile that spread across his face at her reaction and fighting to keep a similar smile from breaking out on hers. "Out of the car, right now!"
"Ok, fine, I'll take a break." Gage chuckled as he turned, actually preparing to leave the car. His plans were changed, however, as he noticed the man walking towards the building. He turned back to Syd, serious once again. "Hey, hey Russo."
They both adjusted their ear pieces and prepared to listen closely to Russo's conversation, however, this was a discussion that Syd was going to make sure they revisited.
"So, Syd. You wanna come over to my place for another movie tonight?" Gage asked Syd after Walker, Alex, and Trivette had all already left their table at CD's Cantina.
"Sure, you wanna grab the movie, or should I?" she asked as she grabbed her coat from the back of her chair, turning to wave goodbye to Marta on her way out.
"How about I drive, and we'll get the movie together? I'll pick you up in the morning and we can come back for your car," Gage suggested, hoping to be able to spend more time with her.
"Fine, but I'll drive," Syd said firmly as she walked out the door, putting her coat on as she went. She could hear Gage sigh behind her and smiled slightly at the frustrated sound, knowing what was coming.
"Syd, it was just one little accident, when are you gonna forget about it?"
"Gage, you drove the car into a brick wall," she stated with sarcasm heavy in her tone.
"So?" he asked. She simply glared at him in silence. "Fine. You drive." Gage sighed in defeat, although he was smiling on the inside. He had known from the beginning that he had no chance of winning the argument, but he had enjoyed their customary lighthearted banter.
She smirked at him triumphantly as she settled into the driver's seat of her car, looking forward to spending another evening relaxing with her best friend.
"So, Gage," Syd said as they walked through the door to his apartment a while later. They had spent a long time arguing over which movie to rent, and they had just arrived back at his building. She shrugged out of her jacket, throwing it over a chair as she toed off her shoes, in what had become her little ritual all the times she was at his apartment. She then headed into the kitchen to grab a glass of water for herself and one for Gage. He watched her move around his apartment as comfortably as if she lived there and realized that he liked that she was at home in his place.
It took him a moment to remember that she had started to say something. "Yea, Syd?"
"I've been wondering this for a couple days now, and I decided that you're going to answer me now." She smiled teasingly up at him as she settled herself on his couch.
"Oh, you've decided I'm going to answer you?" He chuckled as she nodded. "Okay then, go ahead." He sat down slowly next to her on his couch.
"How exactly are you so familiar with the buffet at the Million Dollar Club?" Syd smiled teasingly at him, but still clearly waiting for an answer.
"Oh. This friend of mine had his bachelor's party there. I spent most of the night at the buffet table trying to avoid having to look at the women."
"Oh, sure you did. You were trying to avoid the women at a strip club." The sarcasm was heavy in her voice as she laughed teasingly at him, surprised when he still seemed just as serious as before.
"No, actually I was. It's always bugged me to see women degrading themselves like that, encouraging those jerks that grab their ass and whoop and holler over them. They are women, not the plaything or undress-me-doll most of those men seem to think they are."
Syd shook her head as she listened to her partner. They may be best friends, but he still could surprise her occasionally. She had never met a man with as great a respect for women as he seemed to have. She shouldn't have doubted him in the first place, she realized now. She turned her full attention back to him as he continued what he was saying.
"It almost drove me crazy having to watch those men the other night treating you like their property. Every time one of those jerks grabbed your ass, I wanted to rip his arm off. And the way they were looking at you in that outfit, that wasn't any better. Then when Russo suggested that you dance for him, I wanted to pummel him into the ground so bad for even thinking about it," he growled and she was shocked by the force of his anger.
"Believe me, I felt the same way," she replied in commiseration, wondering at the strength of his reaction.
Her comment brought him back from his left over anger and he turned to her once again. "So, we gonna watch this movie, or what?"
"Not just yet. One more thing I gotta ask," Syd said, seeing her opportunity to complete their argument from earlier that day.
He looked over at her questioningly, hesitant to know what she would ask this time. "Yea?"
"Ball and chain?" She smirked up at him, letting him know that there wasn't a quick and easy way out of this.
"That's not a question," Gage teased, laughing at her raised eyebrow in response. "Fine. Look, I know I never should have said that. My whole point was, why risk it? Walker and Alex are doing just fine as they are, why change anything?"
"Because things could be better!" Faced with his disbelieving stare, Syd tried to figure out a way to explain it to him. "Okay, so imagine there's this woman, and from the first moment you meet her, you feel a strange pull towards her. It's more than just attraction, although you feel that as well. All you know is that you want to get to know her. Gradually, you become friends, eventually ending up being best friends. You realize one day that you want to spend almost every waking hour of every day with her." She almost stopped herself as she realized that it might be fairly obvious that she was talking about her relationship with him. Noticing the interested look on his face, she decided to continue into the fantasy portion of her tale. "This leads you to the realization that you've fallen in love with her, and you find out that she feels the same way. The two of you start a relationship and are exceedingly happy. What do you do?"
Gage was making some of his own realizations as he listened to her talk. Everything she had described up until the point where she hesitated had described his relationship with her. And now, he was finding himself wishing that the rest of it were also true. When he noticed that she was still waiting for him to answer her, he shook himself slightly from his thoughts. "I don't know. What's wrong with staying that way?"
"Wouldn't you want to wake up every morning with her in your arms, and know that she will be there every morning for the rest of your life?" Syd said wistfully at the thought of waking up in Gage's arms.
"Yea, I guess I would," he responded as he looked thoughtfully down at the small woman beside him. He imagined what it would feel like to hold her in his arms as she slept, and realized that he wanted very much to find out.
"So wouldn't it make sense to get married? To get that sense of permanence? To make sure that she would always be there in the morning?"
"Yea, I guess it would."
"See, all it would take would be the right woman, and you'd be ready to get married. Now do you understand why Walker wants to marry Alex?"
"Yea, he found his right woman." 'And I'm sitting next to mine,' Gage added silently to himself, wondering how he had never before noticed that he was head over heels in love with his partner.
"Exactly. So, all you've gotta do is find your right woman and I'll be standing beside you as she walks down the aisle towards you in no time," Syd teased although the thought of him marrying anyone else sent a shooting pain through her heart.
"No, you won't be." As she looked up at him in confused pain, he hastened to continue. "Not unless you can be two places at once." He watched the pain fade to be replaced with even more confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's not possible for you to be standing beside me and walking down the aisle towards me at the same time." He waited for a moment for his words to sink in and he knew the exact moment that they did. Her eyes flew up to his in shock, trying to see if he was really saying what she thought he was saying. Instead of answering her unspoken question with words, he reached his hand up and brushed his thumb gently over her cheek as he leaned his head down and captured her lips with his. The kiss was hesitant at first but as the shock and disbelief wore off, it soon grew to be much more passionate. Still, it was tender and loving, conveying months of longing. When they pulled back, they were both breathless and Syd had tears of happiness starting to form in her eyes.
"Just in case that wasn't clear enough. I've realized tonight that you, Sydney Cooke, are my right woman. If there's anyone that could make me get hitched to the old ball and chain, it would be you." He smiled as he ducked the flying fist that was aimed at his chin in response and he laughed in pure joy at the smile that finally conquered the indignant frown caused by his comment. Figuring that he was safe once again, he ducked his head and brushed his lips lightly across hers. As soon as he pulled back, however, he felt an elbow land in his ribs. Sydney laughed out loud and ran from the couch, having recognized the promise of retribution on his face.
Gage chased after the woman he loved and finally cornered her in his bedroom. After wrestling a while, they both fell into an exhausted, but happy, heap on his bed. They fell asleep a short time later, wrapped in each other's arms. And the next morning Gage would wake up with the woman he loved more than anything in his arms, and would know, without a doubt, that that was the way that he wanted to wake up every morning for the rest of his life.
The End
