Syd rolled her eyes at Gage; he really could be annoying at times!
"Gage," she sighed, "what is this? An interrogation?"
"No," he answered, "just a very detailed questioning."
Sydney laughed and said, "Fine, whatever."
Under her breath she muttered so no one could hear, "You're worse than five older brothers combined."
Gage had spent the morning asking endless questions about Chris. He had gone from giving her the cold shoulder to asking about every single detail concerning Chris and herself. Syd was just thankful he had chosen to 'interrogate' her while Chris was out of the office. There was a few minutes of brief silence before Gage continued his questioning.
"So where did he grow up?"
"GAGE!!!" Sydney exclaimed, "Will you please STOP?!"
Gage's face contained a mixture of surprise and shock.
"Sorry Syd." he mumbled.
Aw man, Sydney thought, I hope I didn't hurt his feelings.
"I just didn't know you were so cranky today." Gage continued with a smile.
Sydney rolled her eyes again, she obviously hadn't injured his self-esteem. Just then Chris walked into the room. She instantly lit up and stood up the meet him. Chris gave her a peck on the cheek and she hugged him in return. She returned to her desk with a smile on her face. As she sat down she looked at Gage whose facial expressions had turned negative very quickly.
Syd didn't understand why Gage was acting this way! He was her partner, her friend. He should be happy for her. Gage seemed to like Chris well enough before he asked her out. She didn't get why them dating would change the way he felt about Chris. Syd wished Gage would understand that this was the first time she had felt like this about a guy in a long, long time. She didn't want Gage to blow it for them! But then again, she didn't want to blow her friendship with Gage for Chris. She just wished Gage would talk to her! The maybe she could understand what on earth was going on in that head of his!
"Chris, Gage, Sydney." Walker said, entering the room with Trivette, "I need you three to go down to a place called, "Bary's Gym". There's some major drug dealing around there and Alex just got the warrants to take the place down, but I suspect there might be trouble."
"We're on it Walker," Chris said, standing up simultaneously with Syd and Gage.
The three of them walked down to the garage, Syd began to follow Gage to his car when Chris stopped her.
"Aren't you riding with me Syd?" he asked, wearing a hurt face,
"Chris," Sydney whispered, not wanting to be heard by Gage, "I'm really happy we're together. But we have to separate work from our personal lives. Gage is my partner, I'll be riding with him."
Chris didn't look happy with the arrangement, but he didn't protest. When Syd got into the car Gage asked her with a smile, "What was all that about? He jealous?"
"None of your business." Syd answered while punching him on the arm.
Gage chuckled as he started the car and began to drive with Chris following behind them. A little less than twenty minutes later they parked in the parking lot of a scrumpy looking building with an old sign that read, Bary's Gym.
"So how do we want to take this down?" Sydney asked Gage.
"I say let's wing it." Gage smiled.
"Works for me." Syd smiled back.
But as they got out of the car Chris asked them, "Do we have a plan for this?"
"Just making it up as we go along," Gage told him.
Chris frowned, "I don't know if this is how you Texans usually do it, but in California we usually go in somewhat prepared. Someone could get hurt."
"Yeah," Gage agreed, "a bunch a drug dealers could definitely get hurt."
Syd smiled but Chris showed no sign of amusement on his face.
"Fine," he complied, "I'll try this your way. But I'm telling you, someone will get hurt or something will go wrong and it will be your fault."
Syd approached Chris and put her arms around him as she laughed, "Loosen up a little, will ya?"
The three of them walked into the gym and Syd made a beeline for the counter. She rang the bell and a large, tattooed man came to her.
"What little lady?"
"We're Texas Rangers and we have a warrant to close down this place and make several arrests if necessary."
"Cops in the house!" the man yelled as he ran to the back room.
"Always the hard way!" Gage sighed as he chased after the man.
Meanwhile, Chris and Sydney went on to round up the countless men in the gym who were attempting to escape through a back entrance. Syd cornered three of them in a storage room and began to fight them. It didn't take too long and in a few minutes all three men were in handcuffs. Not too far away she heard Chris fighting.
"Hey Chris!" Syd called, "Do you need any help?"
She heard him yell, "No, I'm fine Syd." His voice sounded strained so she decided to see if everything was all right. But just then she heard a large bang and yelp from the front room.
"Gage?" she called. When she got no answer, Sydney left the room to see if Gage needed any help.
She entered the main room just as the man from the counter ran into there from the back room with a knife in his hand. Behind him, she saw Gage stumbling out of the back room rubbing his head. Syd leaped forward, about to knock the knife from the man's hand when he suddenly threw the knife and she felt a stabbing pain in her left arm.
Sydney gasped and made eye contact with Gage, whose eyes had grown wide. She stumbled and then fell against the wall, leaning on it for support. She was vaguely aware of Gage a few yards from her, finally placing a pair of handcuffs on the large man's arms. After doing so, Gage rushed towards her, placing his arms around her and letting her lean on him for support, and exclaimed, "Oh Shorty! I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! I shouldn't have let him get away from me! Are you okay? I'm calling an ambulance."
Just then Chris rushed into the room, gasping for breath as he told them, "They're all rounded up back there. Did you get everyone over- oh my God! Sydney! Are you all right? What happened?!" Chris rushed forward, pushing Gage out of the way, and held Sydney in his arms.
"Oh baby," he said, "I'm so sorry. I should have been here. Gage! Did you call the ambulance yet? This is all your fault! I told you someone could get hurt!"
Syd had finally left her dazed and numbed state. The pain hit her harder and she grimaced. Chris noticed and began yelling at Gage some more.
"Chris," Sydney whispered.
"Chris!" she yelled after she wasn't able to gain his attention.
Both Chris and Gage looked at her with concern in their eyes. "What is it Syd? Are you in pain?" the two men said in unison and immediately scowled at each one another.
"What?" Sydney asked, "In pain? Well no duh! But that isn't the issue here!"
"Sydney, what are you talking about?" Chris asked, clearly shocked.
"Why are you yelling at Gage?!" Syd continued, now angry at Chris for yelling at her partner. "This wasn't his fault anymore than it was yours! If it's anyone's fault it's mine! I didn't act quickly enough. Even if it was Gage's fault, you shouldn't be treating him this way. And it isn't even that bad of an injury! As rangers we all know the risks. We can't go blaming one another every time someone gets hurt! Don't they teach you that in California?!"
By that point Sydney had been all but screaming. She pulled away from his grasp and walked towards the door.
"I'll be waiting outside for the paramedics if anyone needs me," she concluded with bitterness in her voice.
She sat outside huffing and puffing from her speech. After she calmed down though she began to cringe, the pain was returning again. She heard silence from within the gym, she had probably left them both shocked. After a few minutes though, she heard them moving around. Not too long later Gage came outside, he looked briefly at her and then asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I've just been stabbed with a knife and then enraged by my boyfriend." Sydney answered with the same bitterness in her voice.
Gage didn't respond to her comment but moved to his car and said into the radio, "Walker, Trivette? This is Gage. Come in."
Sydney heard Walker answer, "This is Walker, come in Gage."
"Hey Walker, we're all finished here but Syd's been hurt."
"How bad is it?"
"I think she'll be okay. She got stabbed with a knife in her arm. The paramedics should be here any minute. Could you send someone down to gather up the drug dealers here?"
"Sure, I'll send someone right down. Trivette and I will meet you at the hospital."
"Okay, thanks Walker. Bye.
"Bye."
The ambulance then pulled into the parking lot and two paramedics put Sydney on a board. She didn't think it was necessary, but she suddenly felt too tired to protest. Chris climbed into the ambulance with her, and much to his dislike so did Gage. There was an akward silence between the three of them the whole ride to the hospital.