AUTHOR'S NOTE: LEAVE A COMMENT ON WHICH EPISODE YOU'D LIKE TO SEE ME DO NEXT!

WIDOW MAKER

The day had started like any other day. Walker, Alex and Trivette were on site at this year's charity rodeo in which the funds were being donated to the H.O.P.E. center. JT had offered to host the rodeo and his daughter Melissa was competing in the barrel chasing competition. Not only that but Ty Murray and the bull known as Widow Maker were going to be there too. 46 guys had tried to ride him but not one stayed on for the full 8 seconds. Ty was vying to be the first.

But then the fight broke out. Buddy Crowder had approached Melissa about 'downing some suds' with him at a local tavern, but Melissa rebuffed his advances. Not only was she underage, but she just plain was not interested in him. Buddy couldn't leave that lying down and lassoed her, pulling her towards him.

JT heard the commotion and went to his daughter's aid. But Buddy turned his sights on the old man that was keeping him from what he wanted and soon Buddy had his boys join in. They held JT while Buddy delivered blow after blow to JT's stomach. Then the cavalry showed up.

Walker and Trivette had joined the fight, each handling their own. Walker had been taking on Buddy's brother and his friends while Trivette was fighting with Buddy himself. That's when Buddy pulled the knife. Trivette tried to talk him down.

"Alright, it's just a fight. If you don't toss the knife, its assault with a deadly weapon, kid. Come on."

Buddy ignored the warnings and lunged at Trivette, swinging the knife back and forth, trying to strike. Trivette grabbed Buddy's arm, throwing him in the water trough. As Melissa tended to her father, Trivette pulled Buddy out to discover the knife sticking out of his chest. Buddy Crowder was dead.

Later that day, Mr. Crowder showed up at headquarters, wanting that 'dirty, rotten scum' that killed his son.

"It was an accident, Mr. Crowder," Walker said.

"Might have known you had something to do with this, Walker. What happened? Putting my brother in the penitentiary wasn't enough for ya?"

"Your brother swindled 30 families out of their land," Alex said.

"Now you've got to go and murder my youngest boy," Crowder said.

"Walker didn't do it, I did it," Trivette said calmly.

"He didn't murder anybody. None of this would've happened if your son hadn't pulled a knife on Ranger Trivette," Alex said.

"The hell you say. You people have had it in for me and my family for years."

"Only when they break the law," Alex shot back.

"I was there Mr. Crowder. We have several witnesses," Walker added.

"I don't care what you've trumped up Walker; you ain't going to get away with this."

"Mr. Crowder, I'm sorry about your son…" Trivette started as Crowder cut him off.

"Not as sorry as you're gonna be, boy. I'll see you in hell."

Crowder had called for a discretionary panel to review Trivette's actions. Melissa testified as to what had happened. She told the officers how Buddy had roped her, pulled her to him and tried to kiss her. Of course, Crowder wouldn't hear of it. Melissa told them about Buddy's friends holding her father while Buddy hit him. Then she told them how Walker and Trivette came and everything started moving so fast. She told them about how Buddy pulled the knife and Trivette tried to talk him down. Finally she told them about Buddy ending up in the water trough and when Trivette pulled him out, the knife was in Buddy's chest.

The officers reviewed all the evidence before taking a recess. They announced Buddy had died at his own hand to avoid being detained by a peace officer. Trivette was exonerated. But Crowder wouldn't hear of it. He vowed to get revenge on Trivette if it was the last thing he did.

Later that day, at CD's Bar & Grill, Walker, Trivette and Alex were having lunch. Trivette got a call and flew out the door, almost forgetting his food. Alex had commented how she's never seen Trivette leave food before as he came back in and scooped up his plate, taking it with him.

"I don't think you ever will," Walker said with a laugh.

For lunch the following day, everyone again gathered at CD's. Walker, Alex, Sydney and Gage were there along with CD as Gage began to tell them about the case he and Sydney had been working on.

"Barry heard that a ranger actually jumped from the helicopter onto the top of the getaway car and busted them red-handed with the evidence, it was over from there," he said, sitting down with the others at the table.

"That's the whole point," CD said.

"What point is that CD?" Gage asked.

"Women rangers," said the old man and now Sydney looked up. There weren't that many women rangers and CD's opinion now sparked her curiosity.

"Oh here we go again," Walker said, looking at Alex.

"What about women rangers?" Sydney asked.

"No, no, don't get him started," Alex warned.

"It's very simple. A woman just won't take the risk that a man will take. No sir."

Gage spoke up. "CD, it was Sydney that jumped onto the getaway car."

CD stood there, a look crossing his face that nobody could describe. He knew he had put his foot in his mouth before hearing the whole story and now he had to figure out how to apologize.

Everyone stared at him, waiting to see what CD would say next. Sydney had a small smile on her face, Alex and Walker stared with a peaked curiosity. CD kind of cleared his throat and spoke. "Well, I guess I better go in the back and get me a great big piece of humble pie," he said with a smile as he walked away from the table.

Sydney looked at Gage. "I was wondering when you were going to speak up." Sydney couldn't help but feel good knowing that while some people thought women couldn't be as tough as men; her partner didn't feel that way. Gage never treated her as a woman ranger, just as a ranger who happened to be a woman. He never let her feel like she was any less than he was. Gage was truly something special and Sydney had always hoped she would find a man like that someday.

But Trivette bursted through the door and pulled Sydney from her daydream. He was sure excited about something, urging everyone to come outside with him. They all followed him out to the curb where a unique and expensive looking purple car was parked.

"So what do you think? Isn't it beautiful?" Trivette asked,

"It's uh," Walker started to say.

"Unique," Alex supplied.

"Yea, unique," Walker finished.

"Yes it is," Jimmy said, reaching in to get a buffer stick.

"It's great. Whose is it?" Sydney asked.

"It's mine," Jimmy said proudly, buffing off some nonexistent fingerprints.

"Yours?" Sydney questioned.

"Yup," Jimmy said, too wrapped up in the car.

"Wait a minute now, Jimmy. A car like this would cost a hell of a lot of money. Where'd you get the money to buy this?" CD asked.

"Let me explain," Jimmy said, dropping the stick back in the car but CD jumped in first.

"Are you dirty?"

"No, I'm not on the take," Jimmy said, shocked that CD would even suggest that.

"Did you inherit some money?" Alex asked.

"Nope."

"You finally picked a good stock," was Walker's guess.

"No but I do have an idea…" he started to say to Walker before CD cut him off again.

"Listen Jimmy, I asked you a question. Are you dirty?" CD asked again.

"No, I'm not on the take!"

"What did you do, find it?" Gage asked.

"That's what I did," Jimmy said.

"Trivette, tell us how you got the car," Walker replied.

"That's what I'm trying to do. The car was impounded last month by the police and yesterday it came up for auction. I had told Matt down at the motor pool to keep his eye out and if anything special come up to give me a call. He calls; I go down and bid on the car and voila! People am I lucky or what?" Jimmy explained.

"It's definitely you, Jimmy," Alex said.

"Yes it is!" Trivette was so overly excited.

"So you gonna let us drive it?" Gage asked.

"Uh…." Jimmy was hesitant. He knew Gage's history with cars and it wasn't a good one. Even Sydney had told him some horror stories about Gage's driving. "Let me get back to ya on that."

"Well we gotta go," Walker said, motioning to him and Alex.

"Where to?" CD asked.

"We're going to the movies," Alex replied. The couple walked away as Jimmy expressed his disbelief that CD thought he was on the take.

Back inside the restaurant, CD and Sydney had continued the discussion about women being rangers.

"I'm not saying there aren't some jobs that women can do better than men…"

"Oh right, like diapering, vacuuming, crying…" Sydney interrupted.

"And interrupting. There may well be a president, a woman president, in my lifetime," CD said.

"Well, God forbid," Sydney shot back. She looked over at Gage and Trivette. "Do either one of you two have an opinion on this thing? Gage?"

Gage felt like he was being pulled in two different directions. On one hand, he knew he should side with CD as the older man was a veteran ranger and knew more than the three of them combined. On the other hand, he knew he should stand up for Sydney and defend her as a woman ranger. Not only that, but he knew he should defend her for the deep feelings she stirred within him.

Gage had felt a strong pull for Sydney Cooke since the day he met her, but he didn't quite understand what it was he was feeling. He knew he loved having her by his side and knew he would never want another partner besides her. He and Sydney had this weird connection where they could anticipate the other's moves and communicate without speaking, but what was it? What was it that made him never want to leave her side? What was it that made his heart flutter when he thought of her? Could it be? Nah, he knew it wasn't that. But maybe it was. Maybe he was starting to develop some unpartner-like feelings for her.

"Well, sure," he started. "I have an opinion on this," he said, choosing his words carefully as to not offend either of them. "And my opinion is that I would like to hear Trivette's opinion," he finished, taking a drink of his coffee.

"And my opinion is that I think it's time for me to take the purpster out for a spin," Jimmy said, taking his hat and heading out the door.

"Did he just say purpster?" Gage asked.

"Purpster?" CD asked.

"He just said purpster," Sydney replied.

But as Trivette walked outside, there was a couple goons waiting for him, hired by none other than Crowder. They began to attack his car before setting their sights on him. Gage and Sydney rushed out to help, quickly subduing the men who cornered Trivette. They made their escape in the back of a pickup.

"Call an ambulance," Gage said to Sydney as she ran inside.

After the EMTs arrived to take Trivette to the hospital, Gage and Sydney followed to make sure he was okay. Sitting in the waiting room, Gage sighed.

"What is wrong with some people?" he asked.

"I just don't know Gage. I'm just glad we were there."

"I know me too."

Sydney turned to him. "You really don't have an opinion on women rangers?"

Gage sighed. He knew she was going to get back to this. "Syd, you gotta understand. There are very few women rangers; it's typically more of a guy thing. But I have no questions in your abilities. You are one of the strongest women I know."

"But that doesn't answer my question."

The doctor came out then, saving Gage from having to explain any further. How could he tell her that she was an inspiration to him? How could he tell her that he had never felt so at ease with another partner? How could he tell her that he was feeling something towards her? Was it possible he was falling in love with her?

Another attempt was made by Crowder, only this time it wasn't against Trivette. It was against Melissa Fuller, letting a wild bull loose while she was practicing her barrel racing. If it hadn't been for Ty, who knows what would've happened. Ty didn't waste any time jumping into the ring to save Melissa and got himself whupped in the process. That was when Ty asked Walker to do the unthinkable: would Walker ride Widow Maker in the charity rodeo?

It took some convincing to get Alex to be okay with it, but Walker was going to do it. He was going to ride Widow Maker. Walker, Alex, Trivette and CD had gone ahead to the rodeo while Gage and Sydney were riding together.

Sydney couldn't have been more excited. "Come on Gage, will you step on it?"

"Relax, we'll get there," he said, not really increasing his speed.

"I know we're going to get there, what I want is to get there on time," she persisted.

"You know Syd, I never would've picked you for the rodeo type," he replied, looking over her tight jeans and plaid shirt. The tan Stetson on her head completed the outfit and Gage thought she looked even more amazing that she ever had before. It was just a side benefit that she liked rodeos as much as he did.

"Actually, I love rodeos. I do. But this is not just an ordinary rodeo. This is Walker versus the Widow Maker. This is huge! This is like Tunney versus Dempsey. This is like Ali versus Frazier, the third fight, you know? This is, this is the thrilla in manilla," she said excitedly. She knew Gage loved rodeos and she was glad she could have this in common with him.

Sydney already loved everything about Gage but finding out they had more stuff in common was just a perk for her. She knew how hard it was for Gage to open up to someone and after hearing what he and his sister Julie had been through as kids, she knew that if anything like that were to happen again, she wanted to be there to comfort him. She wanted to be the one he turned to in the night when nothing made sense and he just needed someone to hold him. She wanted to love his heart so that it was protected. She just wanted him, plain and simple.

Gage looked at her. "Wait a minute, you mean you're a boxing fan too?" he asked, just finding another thing he loved about her. This woman never ceased to amaze him.

"You know Gage. I guess there's a lot you still don't know about me," she said. 'But I want you to know everything. I want you to know how much I love you.' she thought to herself.

Pulling her from her thoughts was the sound of an alarm and three masked idiots running from a nearby bank. Gage hit the brakes and pulled the car to a stop. He and Sydney gave chase to the suspects, him taking after the first two while Sydney took the big guy.

It didn't take long, but thanks to some well-placed kicks and punches, the guys were down for the count. Sydney sat them on the sidewalk while Gage called for backup from Fort Worth PD.

"Are they coming?" she asked impatiently.

"Fort Worth PD is stretched pretty thin. Said they'd send a couple cars when they can," Gage said, knowing how badly she wanted to get to the rodeo.

Sydney couldn't believe it. She was going to miss seeing Walker ride the Widow Maker. She turned and faced the criminals. "Alright, you all are under arrest for armed robbery, reckless endangerment, assault on a peace officer and, most importantly, for making me miss the rodeo," she said, crouching down in front of the big guy.

Since they missed the rodeo, Gage thought he would surprise Sydney by bringing some Chinese takeout and a video of the Ali versus Frazier fight over to her place. He knocked on the door and waited. She opened the door and he thought his heart was going to burst from his chest.

Sydney stood there, door wide open wearing a pair of comfy sweats and a white tank top. Her hair was falling over her shoulders in slight waves, indicating she had taken a shower before he got there. Her face was makeup free and her feet were bare.

"Hey Gage. What's up?"

He had to shake the cobwebs from his head. He held out the bag. "I know how much you wanted to go to the rodeo, but since we couldn't make it, I thought we could have some dinner and watch a fight on video."

Sydney couldn't believe it. He was standing there, holding food from her favorite takeout place and he remembered how she said she liked boxing. She'd never had a man actually listen to what she said about things that interested her. Usually when a man asked what she liked, he didn't hear because he was too busy checking her out. Could Gage get any more perfect?

"Thanks Gage. This is so nice of you. Come on in," she said as she stepped back to let him in. Gage realized this was one of the first times he had ever been to her place.

"What did you get for food?" she asked.

"I remembered you said you like Kung pao chicken and the mini veggie eggrolls so that's what I got for you."

"What did you get for you?"

"Beef with broccoli and some wontons."

"You know you're going to share with me right?" she asked with a teasing tone.

"Forget it Shorty," he teased her back.

"Which fight did you bring?" she asked, taking the bag from him and going into the kitchen to plate it up.

"Ali versus Frazier, the third fight."

"Do you listen to every word I say?"

"Most of the time."

"Uh huh," she said, coming into the living room with the food. Gage couldn't help but notice she had some of his wontons on her plate. He just smiled and turned on the fight before settling next to her on the couch.

The food was delicious and the fight was amazing. Sydney got right into cheering alongside Gage and the air was comfortable. It was as if this was what they did every night; eating dinner together and watching TV. Gage could see himself being beside her for every moment in his life.

After the fight was over, Sydney took the plates into the kitchen, rinsing them off and sticking them in the dishwasher. She got a couple beers ad rejoined Gage on the couch.

"You know Gage; you still never really answered my question from before."

"What question was that, Syd?" he asked, taking a swig off his beer.

"What is your honest opinion of women rangers?"

"Are we really back to this again?"

"Yes, I want to know what you think. Please, it's important to me," she said quietly, taking a sip from her own beer.

Gage looked into her eyes and saw she wanted the reassurance. He set his beer down on the coffee table, took her hand and looked into her eyes. Sydney set her beer down too.

"Syd, you know that you're more than just a 'woman ranger', at least to me. None of us, Walker, Trivette or myself, think of you as just a 'woman ranger' and I'm sure CD doesn't either. But if I had to choose between having another guy for a partner or having you, I'd pick you every time. You're always there for me and I have no problem putting my life in your hands. You think better than most of the male rangers I know and have better instincts than they do. Other than the packaging being different, there's no difference between a male ranger and you."

She thought for a moment about what he said. She knew most men would prefer to work with other men because women were known for being 'weak' and 'fragile'. But Gage's comforting words hit right to her heart and that was good enough for her.

"Thanks Gage. You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. You always seem to know what to say to me."

"You're welcome. There isn't another ranger out there better than you, except for maybe Walker."

"Are you kidding? I know Walker is better than me. I would kill to have his moves."

"You're moves are pretty great too."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You know how to kick butt better than anyone I've ever worked with."

"Well I do have a great partner," she said, leaning in to peck his cheek.

Gage couldn't help himself. He breathed in as her hair brushed against his face. The light, flowery scent wafted to his nose and he breathed in again. He slowly brought a hand up to feel the silky strands and Sydney pulled back to look at him. That was when she saw his eyes.

Those bright blue orbs shined like diamonds underwater as they gazed upon her. She could see the passion burning bright within them and slowly, she lowered her lips to meet his.

The kiss was soft and sweet but it had Gage roaring inside. He felt like he had a wild animal inside him, clawing to get out. He brought his hand back up to her head and caressed her hair as he slid his tongue across her lips. Sydney gasped and he slid right between her parted lips to truly taste her. Her arms went around his neck, pulling herself closer to him, almost like she couldn't get enough of him. He leaned back against the arm of the couch, taking her with him as she settled on his chest.

Again he kissed her with more passion than she had, wanting her to know full well what he felt for her. Her fingers wound themselves in his hair as she feasted on him. The both needed to breathe, but neither of them wanted to break the moment.

Gage finally did, pulling back so he could see her eyes.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted to do that."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah. I've wanted to do that for a long time."

"What stopped you?"

"Sydney, I want you to know, first and foremost, that I have feelings for you. If I didn't love you, I could never have kissed you like that."

"Wait, you love me?"

"You really couldn't tell?"

"Oh." She was quiet again. "Gage?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too." She kissed him again, pinning him back against the cushions. She wanted control and he gladly gave it to her. After a few minutes, she stood and held out her hand. He took it cautiously.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Just come with me, please."

He followed her into her bedroom.

"Syd…."

"Gage, can you just hold me tonight?"

"Anything for you Shorty."

Sydney climbed into bed and waited as he removed his jeans and shirt before sliding into bed with her. Snuggling up into his chest, Sydney had never felt more at ease.

"Gage?"

"Yeah?"

"Can every night be like this?"

"For as long as you want me, every night can be like this."

She looked up into his eyes so that he wouldn't misunderstand her.

"I'll always want you, I've always wanted you."

A quick kiss to her lips and Gage knew that as long as she wanted him, he would be there for her, in every sense of the word. And tonight was just the beginning.